Last
night was a late night for me. Not
Chris. She went on to bed. But I bravely stayed the course. And why, you might ask? What could possibly hold my attention long
enough to keep me awake until after 11:30 p.m., a time when any self-respecting
grandfather would be long asleep? Well …
I was making palm crosses for the Palm Sunday worship service. Yes ... that was it. Yesterday afternoon I cut down three branches
from one of the nearby palms. Then I
methodically stripped and trimmed individual fronds so that we would have a
hundred of them for the service opening.
Next I had to cut and trim individual strips to make another
hundred. Those, however, were
specifically designated to use to make the palm crosses. Hence my late night. All about worship preparation.
OK,
OK. It didn’t hurt that the Astros just
happened to be playing on TV.
Still. See, we went to see Micah
play first. He just started in the
majors division of Little League, and he was actually called upon to start the
game pitching last night. His team lost
the game, but they did pretty well, over all.
Micah got on and even scored. He has
come a long way from when he used to hope for a walk or just close his eyes and
take a mighty swing. Gotta be a little
proud of that, don’t I? Way to go,
Micah. So after his game we came home
listening to the Astros game on the radio.
Springer tied the game up with a two-run double, and it was extra
innings for the first time this year (of
course this is only the third game of the year). The game went back and forth with neither
side able to mount any sort of offense.
Chris gave up and headed to bed, thinking I would be following her very soon. I picked up another palm frond and kept hard
at my task, hard at work on the “actual reason” for my not joining her immediately.
The
game went into the tenth, then the eleventh, and then the twelfth innings. I finished the palm crosses, but since I was
awake anyway, and the game WAS still on right there in front of me, I settled
in just a little bit … for the long haul.
It the top of the thirteenth the Astros brought in one of their
youngster pitchers. He proceeded to walk
three batters in a row. So much for his
2017 debut. Next came another young guy,
but this one at least had more major league experience. He walked in a run. But to his credit, he then got the next three
batters. So Houston came to bat for their
last chance. And on the mound for the Mariners? The last pitcher left in their bullpen. A young Double A player who was only in the
stadium to hold a spot because another guy was on paternity leave, due back in the
morning. This would be his major league
debut. Not just for this year. For any year.
Talk about pressure on a young guy.
He got two outs. But in the
meantime Gattis ended up on second and Aoki on first. Springer was the batter. Three balls.
Two strikes. Two outs. Game on the line for the young pitcher. Would he get his first big league save? And there’s the pitch … and Springer crushes
it. A three run walk-off home run. He screamed and danced his way around the bases. I love this game where grown men can act like
little kids, and it’s OK. Reminds me of
something, somewhere about becoming like little children …
Matthew
18:2-4 says, “He called a little child and
had him stand among them. And he said:
"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven.”
Father,
help us remember that you love little children and you want us to learn from
them the way to come to you the way they do.
Amen.
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