Win some - lose some

In professional baseball there are 162 games in the regular season. Every professional club will win at least 50 games and lose 50 games. Champions are made by what they do with the other 62. My observations in watching people over the course of my career is that everyone loses in some area of their life and everyone wins in other areas. The tale of a successful life well lived is in how they treat people. There are some people who are well loved, who have had terrible misfortunes on their journey here on earth. Misfortunes that could make then negative and bitter. The redeeming aspect of their life is that they have stayed sweet in their relationships with people.

I was at the wedding of a friend in Salem a few years ago. The young girl getting married had a mother with a serious case of MS. When she was first diagnosed about 20 years previous to the wedding, her husband of 7 years left her stating that he "hadn't signed up to be a care taker for the rest of his life." This lady, I'll call her "Helen", could have turned very bitter. She would tell you there were moments when she was bitter and angry. Helen told me she made a decision that this was the life she had been given and she was going to live it to the fullest and not let her attitude turn sour. Sitting with Helen and listening to this remarkable lady, I couldn't help but remember the time that Ruthie and I came to the same cross road. Were we going to let Ruthie's illness turn us into people we never wanted to be? Or were we going to attack life and live it the best we could. God has watched over us and blessed us in ways that are beyond what I would have ever expected. Perhaps the greatest blessing is that God gave us two wonderful daughters and two great son-in-laws that love God and each other. When the preacher said, "Who gives this woman to be married to this man?" and I said, "Her mother and I do". I meant it and stated it with pride that Ruthie and I had done a good job raising a couple of girls and preparing them for life. It is a blessing and a gift to finally have some boys in the house!

The rest of Helen's story... A man walked up who I recognized as the man who walked out on Helen 20 years earlier. He was a broken, bitter man living with his demons. He started crying as his daughter addressed him. She chose to have someone else walk her down the isle and give her away. Helen's grace in dealing with her ex that day displayed a life well lived in the midst of difficult circumstances. I don't know that I have ever seen a better portrait of God than I saw in Helen.

You win some and you lose some, but you chose how you are going to respond. Someone has said, "You can't change your past but you can change your ending." How are you going to finish?

See you in church.

Great Days Ahead!
Steve