Have you been to a minor league baseball game this summer? If you haven’t, you don’t know what you’re missing. There’s nothing quite like the experience of a minor league game–there’s something for everyone. Inflatable games for the kids, cheap food (kids eat free Thursdays!), and the ticket prices make it affordable enough to take friends with you. And for those of us who love the game, watching the stars of tomorrow take the field and hone their skills is a wonderful thing. At the end of every inning our team–the State College Spikes–holds goofy competitions involving fans. We’ve seen wing eating contests, tricycle races, giant hamster-ball races, and the inevitable dizzy bat race.
Tonight was my daughter Lilly’s chance to shine. She and one of her friends got chosen to be part of a singing contest. Lil thought that she would actually be holding the mic and singing before the crowd. It turns out that she merely got to represent one side of the stadium as they sang, finishing a line from a song. But there she was, on the big screen, belting out a line from Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer.
She was beaming as she sang, too! Our side (her side) of the stadium rocked it out, and she was rewarded with a gift certificate from a local rib joint. We’ll enjoy the benefits of her stardom!
Maybe you’ve seen the Spikes on Sportscenter or youtube lately. Their manager got ejected from a game last week, and decided to leave the field with a little oomph. Here’s the video…
Like I said, there’s nothing quite like minor league baseball…
I don’t know why, but our house has been under attack from all sorts of critters lately.
I told you about the bat that was in the house. I didn’t tell you that there was a second bat the next night. I caught it behind the laundry room door. One of our fearless felines was crouched just outside the door, patiently searching for a way to get at the little furry vampire.
A couple of days ago Kim D was over visiting with her pup, Rosie. They usually stop by in the afternoon to let the dogs out (who let the…made you sing it!). I was inside minding my own business when I heard a ruckus developing. Kim was hollering at the dogs to “Git away from there!” Then I heard her mention something about a bee getting her. I moseyed outside to see what was the matter. Levi and I had just fended off a minor swarm in the front yard the day before. It turns out that there was a little hole in the ground that was home to a colony of bees. The dogs got ‘em stirred up, and Kim was the beneficiary of their stirring. I think the dogs got zapped once or twice, but they seemed ok. Kim’s ear was a big red mess.
I tried some home remedy that I found on the interwebs–boiling water poured down the beehole at night, with a screen covering the hole so they couldn’t escape. When I inspected my handiwork the next day, there were about 50 bees buzzing around the screen trying to get back to their apartments, I suppose. I doused the sucker again last night, but this morning there were still bees present.
Somewhere in our timeline, Dasher must have gotten on the bad side of the bees. He was real lethargic over the past day or so, limping around, not wanting to play with Rosie, not able to put weight on his front paws…I think he reaped the wrath of the bees. He was feeling a little more lively tonight, and I took care of the bee problem the old fashioned way: I sprayed the heck out of ‘em!
How do you deal with pests in your life? Turning the corner, how do you deal with sin? Do you try some “possible fix” that you heard about, only to discover that only part of the problem/sin is affected? Or do you pull out the big guns from the start?
Here’s Jesus’ view on dealing with sin:
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands.If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet.And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’
Them’s some mighty strong words…it might be time to break out the big guns.
I don’t know if that’s a familiar term to you or not. I was introduced to the idea of walking and praying (asking God to move in and around the places my feet fall) years ago. But it never really took root in my life until we moved to State College. It’s been part of the Calvary value system for more than 10 years. The emphasis has been greater at times, but the idea of praying as we walk around our community is alive and well. We kicked off 21 days of prayer for the Penn State campus this week, and tonight was my turn.
I don’t mean “my turn” as though I was the only one praying. We divided the campus into 7 prayer routes, and each route is being covered by a different group from Calvary. Tuesday is the Midtown Gathering’s night. We pray around Beaver Stadium, Medlar Field (baseball), the Bryce Jordan Center, the football buildings, and Jeffrey Field (soccer). I love the fact that “my” prayer territory encompasses the sports fields of Penn State.
We planned to meet at 7 at the Joe Paterno statue outside Beaver Stadium. I had gotten word that a few people we planning to join me, but I really had no idea as to how many would actually show up. Let me say, I was pleasantly surprised! There was a life group waiting for us when we arrived–they prayed from 6-7, before their LG met. They prayed for us, and passed the baton. 14 of us began our walk, and as we made our way along our prayer route, a few more caught up with us and joined us in prayer. All told, I think there were 25 of us praying tonight.
If you prayed along our route today at a different time, please shoot me an email to let me know…
Some of the highlights:
praying for the students who will be camping out at Paternoville. Calvary’s own Dan Saxton is the president of Paternoville this year!
Matt felt the Lord directing us to pray for all the commuter students (a group often overlooked by the church and campus ministries) as we walked through the Beaver Stadium parking lots.
Aaron landing on Psalm 67 as we walked. We stopped to pray for all the international students and the countries they represent…
May your ways be known throughout the earth, your saving power among people everywhere. May the nations praise you, O God. Yes, may all the nations praise you…Psalm 67:2-3
As we made our way around the football complex, one of our high school guys prayed for the players and coaches who know the Lord to have a strong year, a year of boldness in their faith, and an obvious love for their teammates.
At the corner of University and Park, we could see (and hear) the Blue Band practicing in the distance. We asked God to move through the band, that Christ would be lifted up, and that believing bandsters would have opportunities to share their faith with their friends.
It was a fabulous night, and a great start for us. I am excited about the next 3 weeks. I’m looking forward to getting to know some of my prayer-mates better, and God is shaping my heart for the campus. I believe that God wants to do something out of the ordinary on the Penn State Campus this year, and I love the fact that I get to be part of his plan.
I hope that you’ll join us next week. We’ll meet Tuesday evening at 7 at the JoePa statue. The walk took us a little over an hour (we stopped a lot along the way!) If you don’t think that you can walk that long/far, please consider doing a little “prayer-driving,” or choose a shorter circuit, or find a comfy spot to sit and pray…but by all means, come join us as we ask God to breakthrough on the Penn State Campus!
I know, you’re thinking that this is the obligatory ”back to school” post. Well, yes, and no. The Sublett children will mount their appointed Great Yellow Steeds for the trip back to the land of public education tomorrow, indeed. But there are some significant changes in the pattern this time around the sun.
Levi starts 9th grade. Yep, my son is a high school student. I spent more than 20 years as the pastor to some of the greatest high school students in the world (that right there is a true fact); now we’ll see if I know anything about being the dad of a high school student. He banged up his knee (strained ligament is the current diagnosis) Saturday in his first football scrimmage, so he’s a little gimpy for the first day.
Lilly will be on her own at the middle school, changing classes for the first time. She’s got to learn where all the rooms are, what she needs to carry from class to class…She spent her last day of freedom confined to the kitchen table, working on math homework that she had all summer to get done. Bummer. I think she might be a carrier of the Sublett procrastination gene. Sorry Lil…
Annabelle and Sadie are all geared up for their first day of 4th grade. They’ll be in the same class, and have the same teacher that Levi and Lilly had. This is a biggie for Annabelle–she’s never started a school year with us! She’s been shopping for back-to-school clothes, getting her backpack ready, sharpening pencils and arranging notebooks…
We had a blast a supper tonight, talking and laughing together, celebrating the end of the summer and the start of a new school season. Levi kept us in stitches, and at one point I thought Annabelle was going to blow her drink out her nose! She’s picked up on some of the family inside jokes, and leads into them just like she’s been part of our lives forever.
I wonder what they’ll look back on and remember as markers of their childhood. The smell of freshly sharpened pencils, the feel of new school shoes, the anticipation of making new friends, the challenges of learning new thoughts and principles…I think this is going to be a banner year at the Sublett Ranch!
I have long been an advocate for mentoring. There’s nothing like someone with more life experience coaching and encouraging a willing learner through some of the lessons of life. That’s a principle that works well in all areas of life. I’ve been the beneficiary of some great mentoring opportunities, on both sides of the table. my wife is one of the best mentors that I know, and usually has a list of young women waiting to buy her coffee in exchange for some of her time and wisdom.
Seth Barnes has written some great posts on mentoring. Go to his site and click the links for Discipling or Spiritual Coaching to learn more. Honestly, it’s worth your time.
Levi got to experience some mentoring today. We happen to live in the shadow of Beaver Stadium, the home of Penn State football. Over the past few years, a number of standout athletes have attended our church. We’ve been privileged to get to know them off the field, and it’s been encouraging to see how their faith shapes the way they live.
9th grade football has kicked into gear for Levi. There are over 70 young men vying for spots on the field, and Levi has been moved from offensive tackle to center. I shot a quick note to PSU lineman Stefen Wisniewski to see if he’d be interested in spending a little time with Levi. Wis responded within minutes, and we ventured over to the PSU practice facility today for about an hour of 1 on 1 work with him.
photo by Benedict Samuel, for the Daily Collegian
He was great with Levi! He took the time seriously, gave some great instruction, and made Levi feel like a young man with potential. I don’t know what he gave up to spend time with my son, but that gift is invaluable to me, and to Levi. They worked on all kinds of things from the mental approach to the stance, from footwork to the shotgun snap. Levi ate it up, and as we walked back to the truck, Levi was beaming.
I am grateful for Wis–grateful that he’d give up study/nap/food time to hang out with my son, teaching him some of the skills he’s learned from the game. But do you know what’s even more meaningful? Levi knows that Wis loves Jesus, that his faith is real, and that he lives his life with Kingdom priorities in mind. I doubt that Levi will end up being 6′3″, 306 pounds. He may not ever have a 3.9 GPA at PSU, may never be a pre-season All American, headed for the NFL.
But if he can learn a few things about following Jesus from men like Wis, that’s a win from my perspective.
For a great article on what matters to Stefen, click here.
me and Levi don’t eat really well…I know, that’s probably not the ending of the rhyme you were expecting. But it’s the truth, and I’m totally committed to telling the truth here.
Kim took the girls and 2 of Lilly’s friends down to Friendship Village to celebrate Lil’s birthday. It’s a little early, sort of like a pre-birthday party, but her actual birthday is too close to the start of the school year. They stayed in a little cabin (named after Levi–more truth for you), hung out around the fire ring eating smores and Swedish Red Fish (Kim’s favorite snack!) late into the night. Today they hit DelGrosso’s Amusement Park to close out the festivities.
Meanwhile Levi and I were left to fend for ourselves. Kim had hamburger meat thawed in the fridge and a packet of taco seasoning on the counter. There was a note that said “Call me if when you need instructions…HA!” Seriously. She included a laugh at the end, as if I don’t know how to brown hamburger. (Truth: yeah, I googled.) We scrounged up some soft-shells and shredded cheese, but couldn’t locate the lettuce, salsa, or sour cream. I offered Levi some yogurt for his taco, but he declined. We didn’t mind too much. We ate our bare-bones tacos like they were our last meal, and spent the evening hanging out.
I love the fact that Kim takes the girls away, and that I get to spend some time with Levi, just being guys. It’s good for us all, and we’re creating some goofy/priceless memories along the way. And Levi and I are learning to fend for ourselves. Bear Grylls doesn’t have a thing on us…
Our son Levi has always been a wordy young’n. He talked early, spoke well, and had more than his share of words for each day. He’s one of those quick-witted word play guys, and knows how to make us laugh. Over the years, our relationship has morphed into a kind of give-and-take of jokes, punnies, and mostly friendly banter. But Levi comes from a long line of word-manglers and phrase-busters.
Kim’s mom has quite a few in her collection:
You buttered your bread, now you have to sleep in it.
Oh Todd, you never seem to amaze me.
Kim keeps the tradition alive with such word-wonders as this:
Kim: Levi, come over here now.
Levi: OK mom, just a sec.
Kim: Levi, I don’t have time for secs…(say that one out loud for best result)
Yesterday at the supper table, Levi was in rare form. He’s taken to a form of faux belligerence lately, and most of the time it’s amusing. For example, if I say something like, “Levi, put the dishes away for mom.” he would respond with “You put the dishes away for mom.” He always emphasizes the You in the sentence, for effect. Here’s another example:
Me: Dude, you need to change your shirt, it’s a mess.
Levi: You’re a mess…
They’re not sidebusters, but most of the time it’s goofily amusing.
Last night, however, he talked himself into a corner. Kim was passing a bowl of rice to Levi, and warned him, “Be careful, it’s hot.”
He replied without even thinking: You’re hot.
Ah yes, my son, most true. And more than slightly amusing in the moment.
Annabelle and I have been spending a lot of time at the ballpark lately. As the chaplain for the Spikes, I like to be available if any of the guys want to talk, so I generally make my way down to the bullpen so that I can wave at the pitchers, letting them know that I’m there. It’s been fun, if not a little challenging, to try to teach the game of baseball to Annabelle. Saturday night I got to see just how much she’s learning.
Like most kids, Annabelle is fond of ice cream. She was a “vanilla only” girl until she discovered the ice cream of the future: Dippin Dots. (They’ve been around since 1987–are we in the future yet?) Now, as much as I love being able to provide my kids with all the amenities of the future/present, buying Annabelle ice cream every time we’re at the park leaves daddy with empty pockets. So Annabelle has a choice: she can eat our ice cream of the present at home, or she can pay for her own ice cream of the future using her own money. She usually prefers the ice cream of the future…
The other night she was on her way to make her purchase, but she only had a $20 (where does this kid get her cash?). She also had 50 cents, so I gave her a little applied math question. If you give the vendor $20.50, how much change will you get in return? She’s good with math, so she quickly responded with the correct answer ($17, for those of you who are digging for the calculator on your phone.) She made her transaction, and I held her dots as she folded her money and put it back in her purse. She stopped me, saying that the man gave her back $18. (cue the dramatic music, signifying a moral dilemma)
She looked at me, and I looked back at her. Then she walked over to the man and explained that he had given her too many dollars in change. He looked surprised, patted her on the head, and told her to keep the dollar for being so honest. I don’t know if his count came up a dollar short or if he made up the difference from his own pocket, but I thought that was pretty cool. As we walked back to our seat, I told Annabelle that she’d done a good thing. I also got a little lump in my throat…
On our way into the park tonight, Annabelle told me that she loves baseball. So do I, for more reason than one. I guess I can add Dippin Dots and integrity to that list.
I’m the Chaplain for our town’s minor league baseball team–have I told you that? Well, I am. I love it. I love the game of baseball, love the atmosphere of the park, love the guys I get to pastor, love the people I get to mingle with at the games…I love it. MInor league baseball is the best, and the State College Spikes are one of the best run teams in the whole game. They’re part of the Pirates’ family, and even though the Bucs are on pace to have their 18th consecutive losing season, it’s fun to watch the newest members of the Buccos playing this game that we love.
As we made our way into the park tonight, they were announcing the starting lineups. Playing shortstop and leading off was a newcomer, Andrew Maggi, drafted this summer in the 15th round out of Arizona State. He didn’t waste any time making himself acquainted with professional baseball, either. He laced a line drive into an outfield gap, sprinted out of the box, and slid into second base with a nifty double. I wonder how many young men have gotten a hit in their first professional at-bat…
He went to third on a ground out by Mel Rojas, Jr. and scored on a Adalberto Santos sacrifice fly, deftly sliding past a sweep tag from the Jamestown catcher.
Before his next at bat, I snapped the picture below. It’s kind of fuzzy, but if you look closely, you can see his batting average: 1.00 Perfect. One at bat, one hit. It doesn’t get any better than that.
No one ever stays perfect, no matter how good they are. If a guy makes an out 7 out of 10 tries, he’s pretty much a lock for the Hall of Fame. Hitting a pitched ball is hands-down the toughest thing to do in all of sports. A batter has about .2 seconds to see the pitch and swing. That’s about the time it takes to blink your eyes! In that time frame, the batter has to decide if the pitch will be a strike, and if it’s a fastball or something off-speed. If you’d like to see how your reaction time is, click here for a little experiment.
Maggi went hitless for the rest of the night, finishing his professional debut with one hit in four trips to the plate. That’s not too bad a start. But for a moment, he was perfect. I’m guessing that he’ll sleep well tonight!
“I never did like caves. You know what you find in caves? Bats! That’s right, bats! And do you know what they do? They fly into your hair and get tangled up in there and lay their eggs and you go crazy. All right, laugh! It’s happened. Do you want a head full of bat eggs? I don’t!” Deputy Sheriff Bernard P. Fife
There’s no belfry in the Sublett manse, but there was most certainly a bat. Levi walked into our room this morning some time around 5 am to inform us that he’d been chased from his bed by a bat. Being the sensitive and caring father that I am, I told him to go back to sleep; that the bat was more scared of him than he should be of the bat, the bat wouldn’t hurt him, and that I would take care of the problem in short order.
Actually, I think I mumbled something like, “Mmmmm, go back to beddddd…….” but you’ve got to cut me some slack: it was 5 am, and I didn’t get back from the Harrisburg Airport until after 2 (Lilly flew home from Missouri last night.)
I didn’t think much more about the bat today. There was no sight of him all day, and I had almost forgotten about it. That is, until Kim called me at 8:29. She had been in our room watching Lost on my laptop with Sadie when little Batty made his presence known. They were taking a break, getting a snack, when Sadie spotted the bat flying stunts above our bed.
Kim freaked! She promised Sadie all the money in the world to shut the bedroom door, and they were done with the Lost-watching. When she called me, I was at the Spikes game. An hour and a half later I rushed right home to see what I could do about stemming the tide of the bat-invasion.
I slipped the door open and stealthily made my way into the room, armed with a lacrosse stick and a towel, expecting to find a vampire perched on our head-board. Instead, the little fella was hiding behind some of the knick-knacks Kim has on a shelf, high up on the wall. I grabbed a pair of gloves, and with Annabelle watching, I managed to grab the little guy. He was none-too-happy about being accosted, let me assure you.
I took him outside and released him back into the wild.
It’s funny how a little thing like a bat can throw our world into a tizz. Have you ever been bitten by a bat? Ever heard about someone being bitten? How about anybody going crazy from the bat laying eggs in their hair? No? Me neither…
But I suppose that it’s the illusion of danger that is enough to push us over the edge. Lots of us get scared of little things that aren’t really that bad, whether it’s a mouse in the kitchen, a bat in the bedroom, a difficult conversation that’s waiting for us, or a big decision that’s looming over our heads.
Most of the time, when we meet the problem head on, it turns out to be smaller than we imagined, and the courage to face our fears wins the day.
Whatever your obstacle is, I’m praying that you find a little courage, grab a lacrosse stick or a pair of gloves, and take care of business!
