Some thoughts from this weekend

This may have been a life-changing weekend for me.

It’s not every day that something like that comes out of my mouth (or in this case, my fingers.)  I am a pretty mellow guy, flowing with the go, never high nor low.  So what happened this weekend that has me thinking?

It started off Friday.  I had the opportunity to conduct a wedding for Beth and Samuel.  Beth is someone I work with and someone I really enjoy talking to and knowing.  Samuel was her fiancé from Africa.  I had the opportunity to talk to them 2 weeks ago about marriage and how the ceremony was going to go… a small pre-marital counseling session.  Samuel was shy but when he got more comfortable, he talked his fair share.

Anyway, Friday night we went to the place where the wedding was going to be.  I got off of work at 3:30 to make sure I got there on time and I did.  In fact, I was the first one there.  I walked around and made sure everything was set up (which we did most of the night before at the walk-through.)  They did a great job setting it up.

The wedding went off well.  I felt comfortable – I also had the entire “sermonette” written so that I would not say, “Um” or try to adlib which I tend to do and chase rabbits.  What really got me was the collection of people who were there.  Beth has always been a bit eccentric and has a very interesting past.  She has made friends in each of these past lives (the best way to put it as these are different time periods in her life where she grew and changed from never to be there again) and even though she is not part of those scenes anymore, the lives she touched there are still impacted for their betterment.

While she is not a “big fan” of Jesus (probably because of the shortcomings of the church), I am sure that Jesus would be pleased if my circle of influence and my friends included everyone that is in Beth’s circle.  The people who showed up to her wedding are what I picture as the people who gathered around Jesus because He didn’t judge them.  He loved them and welcomed them, allowing His goodness rub off on them instead of bickering and demanding they change like we are so accustomed to today.  He never recommended the sin but neither did he condemn the person, instead showering them with love because they deserve love, if not even more than at least as much as the ones “too good” for this group.

It was a good time.

Saturday morning I am part of what is called the “Challenger Program” for Little League Baseball at a baseball park out in Alta Loma (about 25 minutes from where I live.) It is also where I umpire.  This program has kids with special needs and helps them play baseball, learning the character, loyalty and courage that the “normal” kids pick up playing in the other divisions.  It is a great day each Saturday and I wouldn’t trade it in for the world.  My son is in the younger division of Challengers and plays each week at 9 am.  After the morning session, one of the other board members (yes, I’m on the board too) told me that our league president, Bill, had passed away that morning.

This is my third season at Alta Loma and Bill has been away this entire season thus far due to illness, so I got to know him over two seasons.  Bill was an older gentleman but approachable and never a cross word passed his lips.  He was the type of person who welcomed you like you were a dear friend for the last 25 years and he was glad to see you.  I had many opportunities just to sit next to him while waiting for a game and just talk about baseball, life, and everything else.  A Little League takes the personality of its league president and Alta Loma is a great place to work because it has his gentle spirit.  I am going to miss him.  What I will miss most is his welcoming voice and smile making me feel like I belonged with my good friend.

This makes me think, compounded by the group of people at Beth’s wedding, what is going to be said about me?  Am I as welcoming to everyone, makes them know that someone cares about them?  My introverted-ness is no excuse as people don’t care about how shy you are –  they care that you care for them.

Saturday afternoon we had the older division of the Challenger program play.  These are people, ages 11-25, with special needs and the game is fun and inspiring.  I got to umpire the game – more of a symbolic thing than actually umpiring.  There are a few kids that make me cry whenever they play, Joseph in his wheel chair with his huge smile as he flies around the bases; Mario as he scoots down to first using only his arms, turning around and “moonwalking” halfway down the line with great joy.  All these young adults just love to play and be part of something normal.  Do I make these kids feel as my life-long friends?  They are special, not just special needs, but people who Jesus would hang out with too. 

Sunday morning was a little hard.  I have spent the last month in Children’s Church and our theme has been, “Jesus the Superhero.”  This week’s lesson was about how Jesus is stronger than death.  With Bill passing away the day before, this lesson hit home.  Ron, one of my puppets, a habitual exaggerator, had his goldfish die this week.  It ended up being funny but it hit close.  How jaded is my love for my fellow human being right now?  This week has been a wake-up call that I need to stop going through the motions and get on board with what I am called to do.

This morning, I went to work and can’t help but think that stamping my name on thousands of pages, doing student attendance, and answering phones really isn’t my calling. I knew that already, but I need to start working to be in the people business, not in the paper business.