are they really missing anything?

i love the sounds at the ballpark. there are very distinct sounds and smells that take me back to my own youth. the crowds yelling at a play made well, the long ball, the ball smacking the pocket of the glove. the most recognizable sound is the ball coming off the bat with the unmistakable "crack". wood bats are made from a variety of hardwoods. all produce a different "crack" and some aficionados can even tell you what kind of wood a bat is just by that sound. my ears are not that trained but i can tell you this-metal bats ain't even close.
at this ballpark, there is a couple who work in the clubhouse. he is completely deaf and at best his wife is very hard of hearing. both have cell phones but i guess that is another story. they sign and seem to communicate well with each other as well as with the non-hearing impaired.
i had just gotten off the phone with family back home. i am sitting at a picnic table, watching a good game, and just enjoying being outdoors on a nice night. the small crowd was doing their best to provide some noise. this couple was there and they were gesturing to each other with each play. it was then that i realized we are watching the same game but hearing it differently.
i can't relate to living in a silent world. some hearing loss in one ear is as close as i can get. theirs is totally silent. they will never hear the "crack" nor the crowd. one of the sweetest sounds, your own child crying for the first time, they will never hear. no "i love yous". just silence. do you really "hear" silence? i started to feel some emotion over all they are missing. i sat there trying not to make my observations so obvious. as i watched, they appeared to enjoy the game more than i was!!! so, are they really missing anything? all their other senses more acute? i don't know.
i have seen them on many occasions. they silently go about their tasks with meticulous attention. they are almost always smiling and wave to me when they see me. society may look at their "handicap" but are they really "handicapped".
as i watched them i want to believe, have to, that they are living a "normal", healthy life just as i am. seeing their gestures and their faces, are they really missing anything? if they never heard, how would they know what they are missing?
most of us go through our lives with all of our senses intact and never hear what those closest to us are saying. our friends and family try to communicate with us but we miss it. here are 2 people, that i came to see aren't missing anything.
until next time...

me, God and catch-up

i am at church and it is the beginning our vacation bible school. it is really cool to see the kids grow and learn. there are so many tools now to reach kids. as a friend of mine said, teach them how they learn. kids today are exposed to so much negative that it is a wonder anything positive gets in.

so much has happened since my last post. the last time i posted i was in birmingham and i wrote about a little boy i met named Solomon. here we are, june 23^rd and there is so much to catch up on.

baseball has been baseball. this season is the opposite of last year as far as our season is going. we are about 15 games below .500 compared to being tied for 1^st like we were last year. the season is about ½ over so there is a lot more to go.

all of my baseball trips have been good. there is a new management team this year and it has taken me a while to get them trained!!! lots of new faces. about a 50/50 mix of old faces returning.

in between baseball i have been enjoying my other trips. one thing i have been really bummed about is i have not been to d.c. at all. by now i would have been at least 3 times. there is something that i miss about the whole d.c. experience, especially Arlington. it is such a sacred place and i am missing it. i sat down a few nights ago and watched the video by trace adkins “Arlington” and was joined by my son. sometimes when we do things with our children we wonder how much attention they really pay. as we watched the video, he asked me to play it again. as it replayed he started with “remember when we went” and he started naming specific things he saw. i was surprised at how much detail he went into. the moment was as special as when we went there last year.

last week i was in pearl ms. and i had a moment that was one of those special “God moments” that i have blogged about previously. a week before, i was coming back from nashville and i had another experience that was a preface to this one. i had dropped off a group at their hotel and was empty going home. me and 57 empty seats. i stopped at a truck stop with a subway and got me something to eat. i had no place to be anytime soon so this was a leisurely trip home. earlier i had a breakdown and had to get a replacement bus. it had been a hard 3 days with this group. 14-18 hour days and it was a relief to get some “me” time. as i age, “me” time has become more important and when i can get it i soak it all in. it was about 2am and the moon was just coming up over the horizon. it was so large and orange and bright. as i was taking it all in, i started to get a lonely feeling. i have no wife and my son lives with me. even though i am quite happy with my life, sometimes i miss not having someone to share it with. as I am rolling along on cruise control, i started thinking about this and it was if i had been smacked. it wasn’t that i needed someone to share this special moment with. it was not about me and what i did not have or think what i was lacking. after a few moments of pity party time, God revealed to me that it was our time and he wanted me to see something truly spectacular!!! it became a time that i did not need a person to see the moon with. i was spending time with the one who created it!!! how cool is that!!!

now, back to pearl ms. it was a Sunday morning and we were rushing to get to the field. our “get away” days can be quite hectic and fast paced. our host hotel is located in flowood beside and across from a string of small lakes. there in front of me was a flock of geese (see earlier posts on geese) crossing the road. not flying, walking. i had to stop (chose to) while they crossed and they took their time. as i watched it became obvious it was another one of those times God is telling me to slow down and watch something. and i did. usually some of the players grumble if we get slowed down. not this time. there was silence. it was so cool. and then last night at Church. our class was meeting in the lobby and our lobby is surrounded by glass. we were discussing 1^st Corinthians and the contrasts that are outlined in the 2^nd chapter. as we discussed this a quick storm blew in with lots of thunder, lightning and rain. as it was passing, the smaller children could be heard screaming when there was a clap of thunder. coupled with several emergency vehicles going by and you start to get the picture. I looked out the window and there was one of the most beautiful rainbows I have seen in a while. the contrasts were quite parallel. on one side of me there was the screams of fear. behind me were the emergency vehicles with blaring sirens. so much chaos to get caught up in. and then i turn away from the chaos and distractions and i see the rainbow. after class i was driving home with my son and nephew, we followed the rainbow home.

as i get older, i think about my own mortality and come to the sobering thought that age wise, most of my life is behind me. as i stop and see rainbows, orange moons and geese crossing, i have come to realize i have only started living. tomorrow may be my last. based on what i have been seeing and experiencing, it still feels like only the best is just beginning.

until the next time… if there is