The Women's PAO Conference
In December, Adam and I spent three nights in Miami with Professional Athletes Outreach, learning about Jesus, about baseball, and about how the two can be mixed in such a beautiful and graceful way. Yesterday, PAO hosted a mini-conference for the ladies of Spring Training with the goal to help encourage us as we prepare for a new season of ups, downs, highs lows, smiles, tears, moves, friendships, and a whole lot of baseball…all in the light of Jesus.
It was the perfect place for me to be - surrounded by women experiencing the exact same things as me - when Adam texted with the news that he'd been sent down to minor league camp. With gratitude and confidence, we said bye bye to the Grapefruit League…and hello to the backfields of Roger Dean Stadium. Adam and I are looking forward to another great season and another chance for him to showcase this incredible talent that God's given him.
Yesterday, Eveline - the Third Base Coach's wife of the Marlins - gave an encouraging talk about the five things that baseball has taught her over the years. Coming from a woman who loves the Lord and who's been in baseball long enough to have moved ONE HUNDRED AND TWO times, I soaked up every ounce of her wisdom that I could manage to scribble down on paper. #4 on her list stuck to me immediately. She said she's learned that, "To whom much is given, much is required." That perspective totally smacked me in the face. Sometimes, I get so caught up in the who's and what's and where's and why's of baseball that I completely overlook the fact that Adam and I have been given so much. So much more than I ever dared imagine. But so much of what's been trusted to us is shadowed by worry and anxiety and fear and questioning. At least on my end. In the past few months, I've felt conviction over this, and yesterday, Eveline's words reaffirmed to me the fault in this way of thinking and how I can overcome this struggle. Ultimately, I want to be able to look at every situation and think, "how can we/I use whatever's in front of us to most effectively leverage our influence for the Kingdom?" Because really, it doesn't matter where we go. Or where we'll live. Or who is there. Or who isn't there. Or what we're paid. Or how we're treated. Or how Adam's throws. All that matters is that somehow in this crazy-beautiful mess of baseball, with all its uncertainties and incredible opportunities, we're using our lives to influence others into a personal relationship with Jesus.
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Update:
Because Adam was sent down, he's no longer playing in Roger Dean. For those of you who still want to see him play, he'll be on the backfields for the rest of spring training. He throws Thursday at 1:00PM.
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