Uncertainty.......

Some of y'all may know (maybe all of you) that I am currently not playing on a baseball team, and I haven't been for the past few months. And let me tell you, not playing on a team and not getting to play actual games against real competition will take a toll on your playing skills. Thankfully, I have been able to stay in shape by throwing regularly, working out at the YMCA, and taking pitching lessons from my friend and coach Andrew Brown, who is also a professional baseball player. Even with all that I have been able to do to stay in shape there really is nothing that can take the place of being on a team and competing against another team. With that being said I will get on with this. In the last couple of weeks I have been feeling more and more anxious about getting on a team so I can get back to competing. I am an extremely competitive person so not being able to compete for so long has made me very restless. I started doubting whether baseball was the right path for me to take in life and I started praying for God to show me what his will is for me. I was getting pretty depressed because it seemed like every option I had for getting on a high school team or even a good traveling team was not going to work. Then, about 4 weeks ago, I got an e-mail from a friend telling me that they had been praying for me and that they felt that God was going to open up a door for me to continue playing baseball. I felt encouraged and I thanked them for their prayers and for the encouragement. Then I started looking for "the door" that God was going to open. It didn't happen. After a couple of weeks I still had not seen or heard anything and I was becoming discouraged. Then last Saturday we had the Wigles and Rachel, and Danielle Macmichael down to watch my little brother's games. The day was tons of fun, just hanging out, wathcing baseball games, and enjoying eachothers company. When they were getting ready to head home Mr. Wigle and I started talking and he told me that he felt like God was going to open up a door for me, and that I just need to trust Him to do it. So, I came home that night and I was thinking about it all and I realized that I really had not been trusting God, I had just been expecting him to "do something". The next day was Sunday (obviously) and when we were worshiping at church one of the songs we sang was the one that goes: "No one who's hope is in you will ever be put to shame. That's why my eyes are on you, Oh Lord." I was really affected by the words of that song and I realized that if I am trusting in Him and my hope is in Him I will NEVER be put to shame. I know that God was behind all of these events and he has really shown me that I need to trust Him more. Just to let you know, I am still not sure about what is going to happen with my baseball situation, but I am trusing God so what I do have is an amazing peace. I know some of you out there probably have trouble with trusting God sometimes too, so I thought I would share this with you. And I have a little bit of a revalation for you: Maybe God does things like this to get us to trust Him more! It is so obvious, but so profound and I think that might be what He is doing with me. Thanks for reading.

When you just don't got it......

You know that feeling when you are about to do something, that requires effort and concentration, and you feel like "it" just is not there? Whatever that "it" is, if it isn't there you just do not want to do what ever it is that you were going to do. Well, that is what has been happening with me. I must have started about 4 new posts, but I deleted them all, becasue I only got about one sentence into each of them and saw that I was writing a bunch of gibberish. So, I apologize for the lack of posting in the last week or so, but please understand that I did not post because I was thinking of all you. Cause, if I would have posted those posts that I started writing, as soon as you started reading them you all would probably start to have migraines instantaneously. So, again, I apologize for not posting in a while, but now you know why and now you can be thankful I didn't. So, please be patient as I wait for my "writing genius" to find it's way back to my mind.

T.O.A.D.

Taylor, Owen, Andrew, and Daniel. Those are the people who make up T.O.A.D. A little while ago (I think when we were supposed to be doing school) one of us pointed out that if you took the first letter from each of our names and put them together it made the word "TOAD". Shortly after that, one of us was stuck with the genius idea that all four of us should start a business together and name it "T.O.A.D. Incorporated". We only said it as a joke, but after some of the stuff we have done together I don't think we would have any problem getting a business going. Allow me to explain what I am talking about. Today we did one of the biggest "yard work" days of our lives and I am not exaggerating when I say that. We started off with trimming a bunch of the trees in our yard and then piling the debris at the edge of the road. Well, I have no problem doing some trimming cause that means I get to play with my ol' buddy the chainsaw. If you haven't ever used a chainsaw before then you just can't understand how much fun they are. So just take my word for it, they are fun! After I had cut up all of the stuff I needed to, we piled it down at the side of the road. There were three piles (pretty big ones) and there were three trashcans full of the stuff we had cut up and cleared out. Now, if you are thinking "Ok big whoop" just keep reading, because that wasn't the half of it. I forgot to mention that 3 days ago we had made the preparations for this project by weeding all of my mom's flower beds. If you have been to our house then you know that that is no small deal, anyway back to the story. After we had piled all the debris down at the road we had to clear the driveway (that means cars too). The reason we had to clear off the driveway was because a guy in a dumptruck came and dumped 5 yards of mulch in it. Oh, and just an FYI for those of you who don't know, they measure mulch in "cubic" yards. So, after all the trimming we got 5 cubic yards of mulch dumped in our driveway. Now, for normal people that would take like 5 hours to spread, but between Owen, Andrew, Daniel, and myself we got it all spread in 2 1/2 hours........Oh yeah! We're the bomb! I apologize if it seems like I am bragging about how well my little bros and I work, but that's exactly what I am doing :D.

Smiles All Around :)

A smile....... It is amazing how much this small little facial expression tells about us as a person. Personally I think God wants us to smile as often as possible. I partly came to this conclusion when I realized that when I am trying to look "serious" I look like a complete idiot. Now, I am not saying we should all go around grinning like Garfield, but I think as Christians we have something to smile about and we should more often than we do. I am also convinced that God wants us to smile because he designed us so that it takes 28 muscles to frown and 21 muscles to smile (or so I have heard). So when you smile you are conserving energy! How about that for "Going Green"?! I realize that there are those out there who have got the "serious" look down (and I envy you), but as Christians we have something to smile about don't we? I have nothing against being serious and don't have anything against people who are of a more serious demeanor. On the contrary there are times when you need to be serious, but I do want to encourage us all to smile on as many occasions as it is appropriate. Ok, what I am getting at here is that there is a very sad, lonely, depressed, and lost world out there that is looking for something to satisfy them. They go to any and every extreme to find something that will satisfy them, and we (Christians) have the one and only thing that CAN satisfy them. But how can they see the difference between us and the rest of the world if we are walking around wearing frowns like the rest of the world? I don't mean to sound preachy, but the bible says that we are "to let our light shine". Have you ever met someone who's smile just makes the place light up? Smiles can say a lot more than we think and I think we need to give those muscles a little more exercise. My favorite band, Kutless, has a song that is called Smile and the song is all about how much a smile can say about us as people and how much of an effect it can have on others. If you get the chance I would encourage you all to listen to it. Until next time. Smile!