Wading through life

When your mom gets herself a Facebook account. (Welcome, Mother!)

Now, if she were to get on MySpace, I would expect the antichrist to unveil himself any day. And if DAD started using Facebook or MySpace… (or even e-mail for that matter) well… my ears will be perked for trumpets.

And for all you wondering what the above reveals about my eschatology (and that would probably none of you)… it doesn’t reveal much. There will be signs of the times and at some point after that an unveiling of the antichrist and then at some point after that a return of Christ. And lots of stuff between and after those events.

Real complex, eh?

My understanding of these events and personal view on things will firm up quite a bit over the next months and years, as I continue a study of the end times that I’m in the very early stages of.

But it’s not nearly as costly as serving the slavemaster of your flesh and the cravings of your own sinfulness. — Allan Hood, during OneThing ’06

That was the greatest line of the night during ESPN’s coverage of the home run derby. It came while the announcers, and myself, were still rubbing our eyes from what we had just witnessed: Josh Hamilton setting a new home run derby record by crushing 28 home runs, 13 consecutively, in the first round of the competition. And most of them were 450′+ moon shots. It was an amazing performance.

But what does that have to do with atheists? Well, just three years ago Josh Hamilton had made his bed in hell and was the definition of wasted talent. He was the No. 1 pick in the 1999 draft, but quickly spiraled into drug addiction, including cocaine and heroin. He was out of baseball for three entire years, whittling away to skin and bones while he battled his addiction, checking in and out of rehab eight times.

But the Lord brought him back.

ESPN tells much of the story in their article from 2007: “I’m proof that hope is never lost.” I recommend reading it; it’s pretty amazing.

The whole night the broadcasting crew had been making a big deal about Hamilton’s story and how dramatic it was. They of course didn’t make mention of The Savior’s role in his recovery, but Hamilton would bring it up often in his interviews. He’d thank God, which isn’t anything terribly unique among athletes. But he’d then go on to speak of “It’s amazing how quick He’s turned me around” and I started realizing this guy’s for real. And during his last interview, he made a specific effort to thank his “Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

So, the broadcast crew could skirt around the topic only so much. And eventually they caved and mentioned that “finding religion” was part of his recovery story. And that’s when the “bad night to be an atheist” comment came out. A quick Google of the phase reveals that many found it unprofessional and offensive. I suppose from a broadcasting standpoint, it was a bit over-the-line. Oh well. Kinda pales in comparison to things Howard Stern throws out there.

It’s good to finally know more about this Josh Hamilton guy. I occasionally check the baseball stats on ESPN and always see Hamilton’s name near the top in home runs and RBIs. I had never heard of him before this season. Now I know why; and now now I know he’s the guy with the amazing testimony.

Adding to the drama of the story is the fact that when Hamilton was pretty much at his worst, Hamilton’s wife prophesied to him that he’s be back in baseball. They were separated at the time and Josh was heavily battling his addiction. But she felt the Lord assuring her that He’d turn Josh around. And so she boldly told Josh that it was going to happen.

She said, “Josh, I’ve been praying about it, and God’s going to let you back into baseball.”

Josh would say, “Yeah, whatever.”

She said, “No, it’s true! I’ve been praying about it, and He laid it on my heart that you were going back to baseball. But it won’t be about baseball. It’s going to be about what He’s brought you from and what He’s brought you through.”

Even though Josh laughed at the idea, it encouraged him to continue reading his Bible. Katie continued looking to God.

That’s from CBN‘s Web site, which also tells the story (but not as good as ESPN does).

And adding even more drama to the story is that two years ago Hamilton had a “vivid dream… he was being interviewed at Yankee Stadium after participating in the Home Run Derby.” And tonight he found himself in that very dream. Just watching him take it all in while launching home run after home run after home run after home run… it was powerful. God’s redemption is powerful.

The whole story kinda sounds like Joel 2:

And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days…
And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the LORD
Shall be saved.

So, I’m nearing almost an entire month of blog negligence. But it’s been a busy month, so I’m making no apologies.

Two days after my last update, my employer switched its name from Foote Health System to Allegiance Health. The new name called for a new logo, new Web site, new marketing collateral, new just-about-everything. The Web site portion of the new stuff was basically what I was hired to do.

I didn’t work on it solid for the year I’ve been there, because there are other things I’m responsible for, but for the past few months I was pretty consumed with it. Web site launches are always big projects and this one was no exception. Thankfully, it was drama-free for the most part, unlike an SAU site launch I blogged about in the past.

With the site launch out of the way on June 20, I could enjoy the company of my parents and beautiful girlfriend for my birthday that very weekend. I had a great time biking, watching a movie, grilling, talking, eating out and just hanging out with my parents.

Heather joined us Saturday night and stayed in Jackson through Monday night so she could take me out to eat for my 29th. We hit up the Bella Notté, went for a walk and then retired to the apartment before she returned to Valpo.

Even though she’d already surprised me with awesome grilling gear and a very large roll of paper (and yes, it was something I wanted. You’ll have to see my bedroom to understand), she also bought me Mere Christianity, a sweet wrist-mount GPS device and A GIANT SWORD—Aragon’s sword from Lord of the Rings, to be exact! It’s awesome and a great addition to my prayer times.

(Yes, this post is now officially of the elaborate sorts.)

Just two days later (we’re on Wednesday, June 25, now), Heather was back in town because we went to Cedar Point on Thursday for her FIRST EVER experience at America’s Roller Coast. We of course had an awesome time, even if it did sprinkle once in a while, was amazingly warm and muggy, had someone throw up close to us while in the Millennium Force line, and got mixed up on a few roads on the way back. But when you’re with someone you enjoy as much as I do Heather, all of those things become fun stories, not annoyances.

Heather was around Friday night, when we enjoyed a great message at Real Life and a post-church firefly festival in Pastor Scott’s front yard, and Saturday morning, when we enjoyed breakfast with him and Kim. Saturday afternoon Heather was on her way back to Valpo and I had a wedding photo job. Sunday, I did nothing. Whew.

The next week, I worked another three days before heading to Valparaiso for a much needed, super-long 4th of July weekend. Heather and I ventured up to a KOA near South Haven and met Scott and Julie, Iggy and Sherri, Otis and Hayley, and Clark and Erin for a weekend of camping. The weather was just perfect all weekend and we had a really good time.

St. Joe on the 4th

If you’ve never been to St. Joseph’s Silver Beach, I highly recommend it. That’s where we spent July 4. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend going there on the 4th because it was a madhouse, but still, it’s a great beach. Beautiful sand, lots of volleyball courts and other great amenities. The town of St. Joe is nice, too, with lots of places to eat, shop and enjoy yourself. Plus, it’s “The Most Romantic City in Michigan,” so why not visit it?!?

We were back in Valparaiso Saturday night so we could enjoy Sunday at Bethel (Heather’s church) and another day on the beach with her friends Sarah and Josh. And Sunday night was the much anticipated dinner at House of Kobe—an excellent Japanese steakhouse. If you ever visit, just be sure to properly articulate you want the “Samurai” (New York Strip) lest you be given salmon (which is also very tasty, by the way).

After sleeping in a good long while on Monday, we spent the afternoon with Heather’s parents and grandmother. Leaving Heather in Valparaiso, knowing that our run of seeing each other 12 out of 16 days was over, was pretty tough, that’s for sure. It was awfully nice being able to spend so much time together after doing short two or three day stints every couple weekends the past five months.

So there you have it: my big update. Life’s kinda back to normal now: work has slowed down, travels have slowed down… Things are good; things are moving along. God has me in an interesting place, but that’s for another time. Now, I’m going to get in a little more reading before bed.