March Madness: Let the Games Begin

Ah, Glorious March is here; spring has sprung; and love is in the air. Wait! What am I thinking; it isn’t Love, love that fills the air. It’s the love of the game---the crack of the bat, the bouncing of the ball, the cheers of fans, a constant barrage of games on television, and the swing of the club. Sports talk permeates every venue known to modern society. Around the water cooler, in the break room, standing in line at the grocery and at home, conversation seems to flow around the latest game score. In our house the wide array of sports on the menu makes decision making almost overwhelming!

Of course, at our home, basketball dominates with so many tempting selections on cable. It’s like dessert everyday during the NCAA Basketball playoffs. Last Sunday was spent anticipating the scheduling for the first round of the playoff games. Next came the time for Jim and grandson, Jordie, to examine, dissect, and discuss all 65 teams on the schedule in order to fill out their own brackets of winners and losers all the way up to the ultimate team to win the big prize. Then the remote and the brackets were ready so the games began. Now every day the games are watched or monitored on televisions, newspapers, cell phones, Internet, and if one is really lucky, it might be possible to snag a ticket to an actual game. As the clock ticks and days pass and winners and losers of every game are determined, personal brackets are noted. Sometimes it is necessary to take a few minutes to grieve for a favorite team (Duke! Say it ain’t so Coach K!) that has suffered an untimely defeat. This will go on until the final four when North Carolina wins the championship. LOL I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the women’s collegiate teams are also in the middle of their final games and are watched and tracked as rabidly as are the men’s teams. Go UConn! We wish we could say, “Go Tech.” but that is another sad story. I dare not leave out the random games of golf that are squeezed in on nice days in March and the pro golf tournaments (Go Tiger) to be enjoyed via cable on weekends when or if basketball has a boring moment.

In addition to the sessions of basketball strategy, spring break has come and gone in Amarillo. In a moment of insanity or brilliance we decided to treat Jordie (and Jim) to a trip to Arizona to witness spring training games for the MLB (Major League Baseball) teams in the summer Cactus League. Both of our grandsons play on baseball teams. Cole is still learning and having fun as a second grader and Jordie is on a traveling club team (12/13 years old players) with a far more serious intent. For weeks in advance we scoured the Internet for schedules and other information. After much serious thought, Jordie selected the games he wanted to see so the three of us were off. Over the course of 6 days, 2 in Tucson and 4 in Phoenix, we saw 7 major league games with number 8 having been rained out. Jordie was in heaven. By the end of the week, Jim and I had slightly dazed expressions and all the games were running together. We saw the Cubs, Brewers, (see photo above) Rockies, Padres, Giants, Angels, Athletics, Diamondbacks, Mariners and Royals play (some 2 or 3 times). We, also, visited 5 different baseball stadiums. For two days we ate nothing but ball park food (hot dogs, nachos, burgers)! I finally had to draw the line and demand real food. Jordie spent a great deal of his time very patiently explaining the game to his grandmother who has never been a fan of the game unless the grandsons are playing. I really am working hard to use the terminology correctly. You know, it is runs not points, umpires not referees and batter not hitter. Much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed watching the majors play and will view the game with an air of “sophistication” that I lacked in the past. We have already made a list of things to do differently the Next time we go to ensure that we spend our time much more wisely with much less of it stuck in traffic. Sadly, I never made it to a mall and the only shopping that occurred was at Wal-Mart for an emergency item. With all that we had possibly the time of our lives.

During spring break Cole and his family traveled to Durango to enjoy a last of the season vacation skiing and dog sledding. We can’t wait to hear about that!
This could add a whole new dimension to the sports package.

Now that the last week of March is approaching and the winners and losers in basketball will soon be decided and our trip to Arizona is over, we will mark the month of March, 2008, as a winner and a month to remember in the scorebook of our lives. Memories have been made. My tulips are blooming. (What?)

I close with the verses of the seventh inning stretch ringing in my ears. Now stand up, stretch, and sing along with me,

Take me out to the ball game; Take me out to the crowd; buy me some peanuts, and Cracker Jacks……………

Phil Tutor: Change ... It's Good For You!!!

Our friend Phil Tutor very kindly provided us with a CD of one of his sermons to his congregation, and has given us permission to use a portion of his message here on the blog. We believe that Phil's words hold much wisdom and his thoughts will assuredly be of interest to our blog readers. If there are any errors in transcription or editing, they are mine, and we thank Phil for sharing and making his first appearance in a topic post.. -- Jennifer

1 Corinthians 1:51: ... we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.... which happens to be somewhat appropriately displayed over the church nursery....

A simple but profound thought: The future will not change unless the present gets disturbed. Now that may be disturbing to you ... we are often afraid of change. But we all want and need change. Change is inevitable. We can't help that. We've got to hang onto things, we can try to keep things as they were, but nevertheless, change is inevitable.

If you don't believe that, go through your picture albums and look at your graduation pictures. Look at your wedding pictures. When Jennifer and Nicki first got in touch with me, somehow they found a picture of me with my motorcycle and my ink showing and my "wife-beater" shirt on ... and I've got to say that I look pretty dang good compared to the people I graduated from high school with. They look old!!!

The word change is used in various ways. It means to abolish, to alter, to remove, to pervert, to turn about, to overturn or exchange. It means to make "different". Yet, even though change is inevitable, we have a tendency to resist change. Why? Number one is that we feel the need for familiarity ... the stability of familiarity. We become familiar with our surroundings ... the things we do, the way we look, the things we eat. When you go to a familiar restaurant, do you always order the same thing, even when there's something new on the menu? Do you feel like, "Well, I might not like that." So, rather than risk eating something different, we stick with what we know because of the familiarity, the stability.

Another reason we don't like to change is that we become comfortable with the present. So why change? A third reason we resist change is that we become comfortable with the status quo. There's a security that somehow invades our mind and our surroundings, and the status quo is okay.

Unfortunately, without change, we become stagnant, and complacent. Just do the same old thing all the time ... and when anything is changed, it disrupts our whole day. Change can be hard sometimes But if you don't change, we not only become stagnant and complacent, but uncreative. I believe God wants us to be creative. A man by the name of Frank Herbert said: "Without change, something sleeps inside us and never awakes." He goes on to say that the sleeper must awake. Change forces us to wake up. Change forces us into a place where we can see things in a different perspective, a different light.

And the way we are awakened is through change. There's a quote: "If you don't like something, change it." If you can't change it, then change your attitude to that which cannot change. Now there are some things in life that aren't going to change. I mean, as long as man walks on the earth, and travels, you're never going to get a man to look at a map or ask directions. That's just a fact of life, and it ain't gonna change.

Two more great quotes: "If we don't change, we don't grow, we aren't really living;" and "Healthy people change, change brings growth, growth bears fruit, fruit causes health and healthy people change." There are three times in your life that you're going to change. First is when you hurt enough, when you're miserable enough, that you have to change. A second catalyst for change is when you learn enough that you want to change. And third is, when you receive enough, you're able to change.

It's not God's responsibility to change you ... it's your responsibility. I've counseled many married couples over the years and I've heard them say: "Well, I just wish my wife (or husband) would change." But I've learned that when the person who wants change in someone else begins to change themselves, it starts to have an effect on that other person. And of course, if that doesn't work, a good bat upside the head helps.... (Just a little joke here ... not advocating domestic violence.)

I see many people in my ministry who, when things don't go as they like, say, "Well, I want God to do" this or that ... but they don't take any steps to change their situation themselves. And then when God doesn't "fix" it, they say, "Well, I'm just upset with God." And then I say, "Well, I'm upset with you for being upset with God." Some of these people I've counseled for years, and they refuse to take any steps or actions to help themselves, and then when the wheels are coming off, they want to blame me or God. We cannot stand around waiting for God or someone else to change us, when we have the power within us to change.

There are some things I want to challenge you with, if you are contemplating change. If you're tired of the status quo, if you're tired of things as they are, if you're becoming stagnant and your creativity has waned ... you need to think positively. That is crucial. And you need to think creatively ... look for ways to change. Be creative in your positive thinking ... and contemplate what you want the "finished product" to be.

Sometimes we make things too complicated ... so if you want to change things, just keep it simple. You want to get in shape? Don't go out and spend $10,000 on equipment. Just start walking or running. Just start picking yourself up off the chair you're sitting on. Be simple. Be practical. Think practically. I had a lady in to see me recently about going to Africa to be a missionary. And I appreciate that ... I believe there is a desire in her heart ... but why wait until you get to Africa when there is so much to be done right here? I never cease to be amazed at people who want to change, or want to serve ... but they always want to do it in a way that's impractical. So do something about the things that are before you right now ... be practical about it.

You must also think continually, if you want to change. So many people want to change, but when the change doesn't come as quickly as they want, they give up and quit.

And I know some of you think, "Well, should I do this, or should I do that? Is it right or wrong?" You need to change your thinking about that, because "right" is not always clear cut. I often appear at the courthouse with regard to various cases, and I see all kinds of decisions handed down by the judges ... and some of these decisions are going to be "right" for one person and "wrong" for another. And many times those decisions produce justice for no one ... because often there are two "rights" ... there are two stories ... there is more than one life at stake. Most of our society is structured on "wrong" decisions and "right" decisions, what we see as "moral" and what we see is "immoral" ... but our society, the people we associate with, and are related to, all of the things which make us a diverse culture, do not always give blackline definitions of "right" and "wrong" ... and we must be prepared to try to think as others do, to try to put ourselves in their shoes, and then walk a mile in those shoes ... before we make snap judgments as to whether something is clearly "right" or clearly "wrong". And sometimes that requires change in our thinking.

I mean, I used to see people eating raw oysters. And I'd think, "How could you?" I don't want to gross anybody out, but it almost looked like eating a giant loogie. But after someone once dared me into trying one, I can hardly wait to get to some cities that have oyster bars! I mean, as they say in Kentucky, "It's gooder than snuff!" And especially with a big, nice glass of RC Cola ... little Lu'siana hot sauce....

So, in closing, I want to pose another question to you. When was the last time you did something for the first time? If it's been a while, then it's probably going to require change in your life, which may require risk ... because change nearly always involves risk. So look at risk-takers, because risk-takers are people who want to change.

I challenge you to do something different ... if not today, then tomorrow, but don't keep putting it off. Even if it's as simple as ordering something unfamiliar from a menu, or changing your haircut. I have to say that I've worn my hair four different ways in the past 20 years. I've worn it straight, I've worn it curly, I've worn somebody else's, and I've worn it as it is now. And every now and then, I let it grow out just a little bit, and I look like Tommy on "Rugrats". I've also started sporting a partial beard, because I'm starting to have a little bit of a turkey chin, and that hides it real well.

Be Blessed!