Curve Balls... man they are tricky. I was watching a baseball game the other night ( a rare thing for me). The pitcher for the Texas Rangers, Cliff Lee, threw fast ball after fastball. He was on. The Tampa Bay Rays could not hit him. But over some time, they began to figure him out a bit. So what did he do? Change up.... then curve ball. Strike out after strike out... They never did figure him out. And now the Rangers are in the ALCS.
Life is alot like that. You go along and you get used to a certain cadence or a certain rythym. You think that you have life figured out. And if you are like me, you kind of like it that way most of the time. The problem is that when you live that way for a long time, you begin to depend more on yourself to control your circumstances and you depend less on the Lord. Then it happens... A curve ball. You lose your job, someone gets sick, you have a big bill come due, someone turns their back on you, an unplanned pregnancy... the list goes on and on.
Pam and I had a curve ball this last August.( Not an unplanned pregnancy !) Pam lost her job at the Mid-High. Ten years of working with 9th and 10th graders, down the drain in one phone call. It was district wide budget cuts that got her. No one was happy for this...and We were not really ready for it. ( at least I wasn't). But we took a look at it and almost immediately Pam said, "Well God must have a different plan." He did not ask us ahead of time. We did not "steal his signs." He did not ask permission. It just happened. But all along God was working.
Its about 10 weeks later, and not Pam is working with Kindergarteners. ( BIG CHANGE from 9-10th graders!) And I have to say that while it is exhausting for her in some ways, she has not been happier in her job than she is now. She mentioned this week that she was so glad that God threw this change at her at this time in her life. It has invigorated her and she sees so many ministry opportunities. And nothing against many of the great people that she worked with at the Mid-High, but she loves working with her new team at Stone Canyon. It is such a postive and uplifting environment.
Well all of that to say, " When you get a curve ball in your life remember that God is control." HE may throw it himself, or HE may have just allowed it, but either way HE is in control of it. YOU are in control of something too... you are in control of how you respond to it. You can just stand there and strike out. Or you can take a swing. But another option is to pay attention to it, and look for the opportunity that curve ball brings... you never know how it might work out 10 weeks later.
