More Than We Deserve

Sometimes you get more than you expect...more than what you deserve. "God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he's rich in love" Psalm 103:8 (The Message). I have been wanting to take Bryce to a Major League Baseball game for some time. Now that we live within driving distance of the Washington Nationals I've been looking for an opportunity. Yesterday morning I went online to see if they were playing at home and what the ticket prices were. And to my pleasure I saw they were playing the Orioles at 1:30 and there were "family fun" tickets for $14 which included a hot dog, drink and chips. So, we headed out towards D.C. We parked in Vienna and got on the Metro (the subway system for D.C.) which took us to within a block of the Nationals Park. We got in line at the box office to buy tickets but were disappointed to find out that the Family Fun Tickets were sold out and the only tickets left were $10 standing tickets (that means you have to stand somewhere, you don't have a seat) or the Diamond Club seats which were $175 a piece. We walked away disappointed that we had traveled so far and were so close, but couldn't afford to get in. Bryce began to cry and I was brokenhearted for him that he would not get to see the game. As we walked around the entrance trying to decide what to do next, an older gentleman walked up to us and asked if we needed tickets. He said he was an attorney from D.C. and had a group of season tickets that he didn't need. The face value of the tickets were $55 and he said he would take $25. We told him our situation and the tickets we had come to buy and he told us that these would be much better. We didn't have cash on us so to our surprise he said he would take a check. We thanked him and excitedly walked to the gates and on towards our seats. Our tickets took us to place called the Stars and Stripes Club...an air conditioned club with food vendors, shops, and lots of lounge chairs and tv's. Our seats were on the first row of the lower deck along the third base line. It was more than we expected. We had planned to sit in the right field upper deck with the family fun tickets, but this was more than we could have imagined. And what a game, too. Belliard hit a 2 run home run in the 12th inning with 2 outs to win the game for the Nationals. What a day! Some might think that all this is coincidence, but my God is a God of mercy and grace. We get more than we deserve and He doesn't treat us as we deserve. I was surprised by what happened. It's not what I expected or planned. Sometimes God has something better.
Duane

Fellow Traveler

So many lessons to be learned on this journey of faith. One of the many that I'm learning is to be faithful wherever I am, in whatever situation I'm in, and with whoever I'm able to come along side in their journey. A new guy started working part-time at Sears a couple of weeks ago. He's a pilot part of the week and needed something part-time to help with the bills. I know what it's like to be the new guy at work so I'm trying to help him learn the ropes as quickly as possible. The other day as we were unloading the semi-trailer full of appliances and stuff into our stock room, he began telling me about being laid off from his pilot job that same week. He and his wife and son moved here from Northern Virginia to get out of the rat-race, like many others, but now he's facing some pretty tough times ahead if he doesn't get another pilot's job soon. He has a big house and an even bigger house payment. What do you say to someone in this situation? I don't have the answers for our economy. I live in a community where over 150 homes have gone into foreclosure since the beginning of the year. All I knew to do was share a little bit of our story and how God has done some amazing things. I told him about John, whom God had sent into our lives to buy our house and keep our credit it tact. I used our experience to tell him that God can do something amazing in his life too. I can't guarantee him anything. But, I know first-hand of God's faithfulness to me. I read about it this morning where Samuel reminded unfaithful Israel, "God, simply because of who he is, is not going to walk off and leave his people" 1 Samuel 12:22. Since then, he has asked me questions and it has opened up a conversation that I hope will continue and hopefully lead him to Jesus. As a Christ-follower, the end of my journey is already settled, but what I do along the journey is for me to decide. Will I come along side of others as a fellow traveler and help lead them in their search for knowing God? I don't know how all this is going to turn out, but even if it's just to help one person on their journey to really know God, it will have been worth it.
Duane

Saving Ourselves

John and I were talking this afternoon about the Culpeper Soapbox Derby which will take place this coming Saturday on Blue Ridge Ave, the street I live on. Our street will be blocked off to traffic with orange cones and hay bails lining the street. We were told the other day by a police officer to park our cars some place else or we wouldn't be able to get out of our driveway after 5am. It's a big deal in our community. It's to be a family event. Fathers and sons, Moms and daughters all building soapbox cars together to compete. One winner from each age group will advance to the Nationals held in Ohio. But the thing that struck me most was one fact about the soapbox race that I wasn't aware of until John told me. He said that each driver runs two races against the same opponent. The first race with their opponent's wheels on their own car and the second race with their own wheels on their own car. I found that quite interesting. Here in this "family fun" event rules had to be made because of those who would try to cheat by doctoring their wheels. I was amazed. I had no idea. It proves once again of the total depravity of mankind. We can't even be honest in an innocent, family fun event like the soapbox derby. Now, I know that not everyone tries to cheat, but given the right circumstances...who knows? It reminds me again that we all need a savior. We can't save ourselves. We can't even keep ourselves from cheating in a kid's race. God brought us here to Culpeper, not because it's a terrible place filled with cheaters. No, he brought us here to tell the people that there is One who can save us... even from ourselves. Jesus.

Duane

Thirsty

What am I thirsty for? I ask that question as I listen to the rain beat down on our house and I watch the river that flows through the park behind our house rise. I've been asking myself that question for a few weeks now ever since I watched a video called "Thirsty". The first week of June, at our Saturday night Mosaic Church, we talked about being thirsty for hope . That very week a friend of mine at work told me that his best friend's ex-girlfriend hung herself from her kid's swing set on Memorial Day. The neighbors found her dead. She had lost all hope. Since then, my friend who told me the story, who himself is a recovering alcoholic, hasn't shown up for work in three weeks. No one's heard from him lately. He's back drinking again. Is it that he's drinking to satisfy his thirst or is he drinking again because there's a thirst deep within himself that he has never been able to quench and he thinks he can quench with alcohol? Has he lost all hope of ever quenching his thirst? Does the alcohol simply numb the thirst for a while? I believe that humanity was created with a thirst...a thirst that only God Himself can quench. We see it from the very beginning with Adam and Eve's desire to walk with God in the garden. They were thirsty for a relationship with their creator. The animals, even creation itself, couldn't satisfy that thirst for relationship with God. Humanity is hopeless without the God who made us thirsty. I find myself trying to satisfy my thirst for Him with other things...so many times. Those things always leave me thirsty. In the New Testament, the prodigal son tried to satisfy his thirst with everything but his father. But, when he finally went home, he found his father running to him, ready to quench his thirst. What am I thirsty for? Ultimately, God. He's not who I always run to, but He always runs to me.
Duane