Fenway Fantasy Day

Time: God's Currency

In my last post I wrote that the Bible tells us to work for what we get and applied my own reasoning to say that there comes a point at which service isn’t enough and doesn’t solve the problem. Now it may seem like I am writing the opposite but we are also told to be generous and serve. For this there is a ton in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 17:5 “He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker…” 19:17 “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord…” 22:9 “A generous man will himself be blessed…” there is much more but this is a good sample. So now here’s the question, what does this mean? Well, from this we can see that God call us to love the poor, as we should love anyone. And a sign of love is spending time to serve because by loving others we show our love to God. This seems like the polar opposite to what I said earlier but it isn’t and here is why. If a parent gave everything their child asked for, every dollar their child needed we would hardly say they really loved them because once that child grows up into an adult he won’t know how to take care of himself. Real love is shown in time and effort to help that child grow and learn, not in gratifying every request. By making people dependent on service we can hardly say that we love them because all we are doing is making the problem worse. I would think that the best sign of love would be helping them up onto their own feet, investing our time, trust, and friendship and instead of our wallets. It’s easy to spend money because we can always get more, it’s time that we run out of.

Tough Love

I said I would blog about poverty so now that is what I am going to do. While the Bible says a ton about money I want to break it down into three key points which will be broken into three blog posts each. Number 1 the Bible says we need to work for what we get. Number 2 the Bible says we need to be generous with our possessions. And finally number 3 which says money can’t be everything to us, God has to be first in our lives. For this post I will be writing about the first point that we need to work for what we get. One verse that comes to mind can be found in Leviticus, which is right after Exodus. Leviticus 19:9 says “When you reap the harvest of your land do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.” We don’t really harvest much anymore, or glean either, but the principle is the same, God is not requiring us to give handouts so that people will have to work for what they get. One of the group leaders on my mission trip made the observation that there is a point at which when you serve you make the person you are serving dependent on your service. I mentioned that there were people asking when we would paint their house, when we would get around to them. The problem with this is we can’t get to everybody, we can’t give every person a hot meal or a freshly painted house, and it would be impossible and in the end wouldn’t solve the problem. Eventually the paint would fade and the meal eaten and then our service would be required again. While non biblical this statement is practical “Give a man a fish feed him for a day, teach a man to fish feed him for a life time.” The thing though is this; this isn’t the whole answer only a part of it which will be discussed in my next post.

It's Just October

You know what I’m sick and tired of? The sports writers for the Boston Globe. After every win it’s “hey the Sox can make it” and after every loss it’s “Oh who were we kidding.” You know what I think, I think that this team is a great team and if healthy all year could win the division and possibly the World Series. The Red Sox team since the second week of the season has been a team of backups, and the fact that they are only 6.5 games out of first and that people are actually expecting them to make the playoffs and disappointed that they most likely won’t, I mean what did anyone really expect? Let’s say they do make it, how well will they do versus the Twins or Rangers, teams that have given them an extremely hard time all year? The thing is I’m not upset and I’m not disappointed because when Pedroia, Youk, and Ellsbury went down I (and I think every Sox fan) knew that this was not their year. A lineup of Ellsbury, Pedroia, Youkilis, Martinez, Ortiz, Beltre, Drew, Cameron, and Scutaro would win the division and maybe win 100 games, a lineup of Scutaro, Drew, Ortiz, Martinez, Beltre, Lowell, Kalish, Hall, Lowrie won’t. One thing this season helped me realize is this, isn’t the fun in watching with friends and family? I mean if the Sox win the World Series this year will it really change my life that much? I get caught up in the game too, but it’s times like this that help me realize what is most important.

Future Hall of Famer

Last year I was very blessed to be a part of the Fenway Fantasy Day at Fenway Park and this year I got a chance to do it again. Fenway Fantasy Day is a fundraiser run by the Jimmy Fund where people pay money to hit or play in the outfield at Fenway Park. Through my job I was able to catch for the pitching machine at home plate in Fenway Park. It was awesome last year and was just as cool this year, and I even got a chance to play a little outfield! My shift for catching was over so I got a chance to play right field at Fenway Park. Unfortunately everyone was a dead pull hitter but I did catch a line drive, field a ground ball, and play one off the right field wall. I’ve played in a lot of baseball games but nothing compares to playing in this big expansive right field in front of all those stands, it was really cool. Last year I took a foul ball off my shoulder and was unable to play on the field but this year I was blessed to do so. I’ll post a few pictures from my day later and speaking of the Red Sox I’ll write a post about them too. Wow, what a great way to end my summer.

There's Always Next Year

While I’m not a fan of overstatement, the series against the Rays is the most important one of the year for the Red Sox. They will have to play like it’s October, redo of 2008 ALCS everyone said the Sox were done, now it’s time to prove them wrong and beat the Rays. If the Sox sweep the Rays they will be 2.5 games out of the Wild Card, but should they be swept they will be 8.5 games (ouch!) out and most likely done. While everyone is crying “bridge year” here’s one thought, you have to give the Sox credit for being this close with essentially a team of reserves. Tonight’s lineup is Scutaro, McDonald, Martinez, Beltre, Ortiz, Lowell, Drew, Lowrie, and Hall. Compare to the opening day lineup: Ellsbury, Pedroia, Youkilis, Martinez, Ortiz, Beltre, Drew, Cameron, and Scutaro. All I can do is dream of the possibilities of how good they would have been, how instead of 5.5 games behind they could be 5.5 games ahead. Everyone criticized Epstein for “giving up” all he did was craft the best team and the lowest price and if a mediocre team of backups can give its fans hope for the playoffs then imagine what the healthy team could do. I guess I’m just saying that it’s been a good season, it’s been close and it’s been exciting. While the Sox may not make it all the way we did get a chance to see the further growth of Lester, a resurgence from Ortiz, Beltre (one word is enough), and how could I forget Buchholz. If the Sox don’t make it there is hope for the future (of course hope has a big price tag), and while the Sox are down they are never out.

Summary of my Trip

I just realized this, I’ve been writing all these posts about the lessons I’ve learned in Belize but I haven’t written about what I actually did in Belize, I mean for all you know I could’ve sat around playing Chinese Checkers for a week. So here is a summary of my trip. On out first day we arrived around noon and the first thing that hit me was the heat, as I said to my friends everyday was a new definition for hot. Also on our first day we went on the “jungle monkey hunt”, we didn’t hunt anything but we did get to see wild howler monkeys which were very cool. The next day, Sunday, we went to the water park (working hard or hardly working?). Sunday night we went to the park which consists of a soccer field, lots of open space, as basketball court, and tons of kids, many of which I played whiffle ball with. The next couple of days we went to the inner city to paint houses and hang out with some kids. I had a blast, while painting a house I saw a grasshopper that looked like it was on steroids, ate lunch in the shop of a former gang leader, and met some great kids. The most fun I had was probably our first day when after lunch I decided to stay with the kids and color and climb trees and then boxing. The next day in the city we painted the police station and played chess with a few local kids, I got into a stalemate (basically a tie) and won a match. Later in the week we painted a church and met these two little kids, a brother and sister that loved following us around. The brother liked to take my Red Sox hat and put it on his head and help me carry big buckets of paint. I remember giving him a full, and heavy bucket to carry and when he would try to lift it up I’d tell him to lift it again and lift it myself and marvel to him “Wow you’re super strong!”. Our last work day we went to an orphanage where I played whiffle ball with a bunch of kids and got lots of water dumped on me as the kids laughed saying “Hah, you’re all wet!” On our last day we went to the Mayan Temples which made me feel like I was in an Indiana Jones movie; that was probably my favorite excursion. Anyway there is a summary of my trip, while Mississippi taught me about perseverance this trip taught me about loving others and humility, I had a great time sharing the love of God with all the kids we met and serving others, I even got used to the heat.

It's Complicated

I used to have a simplistic view of poverty, basically there are poor people, it’s sad, when I can I should help them but not give money (because you don’t know what it’s spent on). When arriving in Belize I was shocked at the level of poverty, Belize is a very beautiful country but also a very poor one. While loved to look out at the abundance of palm trees, coconut trees, and jungle I could not help but notice the large amount of small, somewhat run down, houses scattered throughout. The typical house in Belize is a few rooms, one floor, and stone, some are painted and the nicer ones are wooden and on stilts. There is no “Stop and Shop”, no “CVS” there are fruit stands and gas station markets. Belize City is divided into two sections the south side is poor, the north side is wealthy. There is also a huge income gap. Seeing the poverty, kids who couldn’t afford to go to school, kids with literally nothing asking me for toys, it really redefined my views. My group had a long discussion on poverty and the conclusion is this, it’s complicated. On one hand we want to go out and everyone’s house and give to everyone we see and hand out lots of money to poor families but there is a problem, we end up creating a society dependent on help. There were many people coming up to us in the middle of work saying “When are you going to paint my house?” After a while people stop doing things for themselves and start waiting for people to do things for them. While that is true, we cannot stop serving others, I can’t say “I’m not going to Belize that only magnifies the issue” we all need to have a servant’s heart and a love for other people. If I were to stop serving that would give me a hard heart and go against the teachings of Jesus. So what do we do, serve until people are dependent on help, or stop serving altogether? The answer is this, it’s complicated there is no clear balance, no arrow pointing the right way, but there is what the Bible says about poverty and I don’t have room to write it here but I will write a post later.

We are His Tools

You know what would be both ridiculous and somewhat funny? If after hitting a homerun as I crossed home and picked up my bat it looked up at me and said “You know, it was really I who hit that homer, not you.” Or what if this happened, after typing this blog post, my keyboard said to me “You know Tay Tay, I should get all the credit because it was really I who writes your blog posts. Now, my bat and keyboard are right in one way, they did do those things, without a bat I couldn’t hit and without a keyboard I couldn’t type. But the key word is “a” I don’t have to use a specific bat, any bat will do, and my keyboard is not the only one out there. I think it’s the same for when God uses us, especially in reaching other people and telling others about Him. In Belize we operated under more of a ministry, meaning in Mississippi we basically worked for eight hours and left, in Belize we spent more time talking to people and telling them about Jesus. Now, the man who owned DCI (the place we stayed) put a strong emphasis on “getting people saved”, that is very important but is it the whole story? Think, what really happens when I have a meaningful conversation about Jesus with someone, is it me in control or God? I believe that faith is a personal decision and a process, that you can’t just say “I believe” and end there and that in order to grow and know God He has to be in control. If I go out and try to witness on my own and focus on getting people to say “yes” then I will face little success, if I pray to God to give me an opportunity to share my faith (through any medium) and wait on Him that is where things really happen. In telling people about Jesus we are the tools, God uses us to reach His people, not the other way around.

Soxtober?

Okay, the Red Sox are 5.5 games behind the tied Rays and Yankees, it’s mid-August, question: will they make the playoffs or for the first time since 2006 watch them? Here are the pros and the cons to the Red Sox for the rest of the season.

Pros:
The return of Dustin Pedroia
Lackey and Dice-K are heating up
Ryan Kalish aka the new Trot Nixon
J.D. Drew is heating up – and you know what that means
The Sox have many games vs. the Yankees and Rays to gain ground.
For the rest of the season the Sox play the Orioles, Jays, and Mariner’s twice.
The Rays had a great start last year but quickly fell apart, while unlikely the injuries of late are a problem.

Cons:

Many games against the Rays and Yankees, those will decide whether or not the Sox make it.
Youk is out for the year.
Beckett can’t pitch against good teams.
The bullpen is terrible, against good teams no lead is safe.
Ellsbury is out…again
Cameron is out…again
The teams most likely going to the playoffs have been a big issue for the Sox , Twins, Rangers, Yankees.
There are noticeable holes in the lineup.

Considering this what do you think? As for me I’m going to need some time, and of course see how the season plays out.

New Book

Lately I’ve been reading St. Augustine’s confessions, and while I started reading it for, I guess not the best motives (have to for college stuff) I am actually finding it, as odd as it seems (it was written in the late 300’s) very applicable not only to my life but to today’s world. Also C.S. Lewis was somewhat inspired by Augustine so that is added interest. Anyway I think the book is very interesting and when I finish it I will write some of my thoughts, it is very cool to see how life really doesn’t change (despite what my elders say about how the world is so corrupt now, that nothing ever went wrong when they were kids) but the most amazing thing is this, Augustine wrote this book either in the late 300’s or early 400’s, the Bible was written much earlier than that and is just as applicable. I guess it shows that the word of God, and its inspirations, last.

Cool Pictures of Belize

We're Not All That Different

I don’t know about you, but when I go to Boston I only go to the following places, Fenway Park, Faneuil Hall, the Frog Pond, North End, or any nice restaurant around that area. You might say “Why are you telling me this?” My point is this, that is a very small portion of Boston, and while Boston is not a big city there is a ton more to it. I generally make an effort to stay away from the rougher parts of Boston, the outskirts of the city, places like Southie or Roxbury; I would simply avoid those places. In Belize we worked on the worst street in Belize City, it was a three gang street, and we ate lunch in the shop of a former gang leader, added to that the policemen were packing, and were receiving help from the Belizean army. But you know what, that shop owner was the nicest guy, and the kids we met were some of the sweetest kids you’ll ever meet. I had a blast coloring with them, climbing trees, playing chess, and even boxing with them. There was one little boy that followed us around, and even wanted to paint with us despite the rain. To put it simply it was an amazing experience. One thing I learned is that I can’t judge people based on where they live, this was poor and dangerous neighborhood, but that doesn’t mean all the people are bad, just because there are gangs on the street doesn’t mean everyone is involved. I used to look at the rougher parts of town as “bad neighborhoods” as I said to my group I go over here, and they go over there, but after working in Belize City my question is this, what makes them bad? Is it because they are poor; is it because of violence, does that make everyone in the place “bad”? No. I’m not advocating walking alone in a unknown and rough part of town, that’s very unwise, we were safe because DCI was known in the city, but what I am saying is that next time I won’t be so quick to judge, that the next time I’m in Boston or Philly or New York I’ll remind myself that there are kids there just like me, that we’re not all that different.

Thoughts on Loss

I’ve been thinking a lot about loss lately; loss is a tough thing to deal with and when I came back from Belize it felt like I lost a lot in my life as I have had to go through a few losses. To be honest, at first, I didn’t believe the things I heard, I thought that it was some sort of a bad dream that I would wake up and everything would be back to normal, the way it should be. Lately though I’ve realized that things are not going “back to normal” that time will just keep going on and what happened, happened. Then I became angry, not necessarily angry at God, or with my friends and family, just angry at what happened, that I wasn’t present, that I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye. Loss is tough, I wish there were an easy answer, that when we lose a pet, friend, or family member I could point to a verse and say “See here, this is what the Bible says” but unfortunately at the time I don’t know any. One thing that comes to mind is the story of Job, the man who literally lost everything, when God answers him He doesn’t give a specific answer but instead He lets Job know that He is in control. Loss is very hard to go through, but the thing is I, and everyone, must trust God and call to Him for strength to keep going. Ultimately God is in control, no matter how it seems at the time.

No Looking Back

Here is one of the many lessons I learned in Belize. First I would like to say I am sorry for not getting to this sooner but I was in Cape Cod last week and obviously could not blog. I’ve always been a bit perplexed by the story of Sodom in Gomorrah. In Genesis 19 Lot is told by an Angel to flee to the mountains because the cities will be destroyed, while leaving Lot’s wife looks back to the city and is turned into a pillar of salt. My question is this, why? I mean, why turn her into a pillar of salt for just turning around to have a look? In Belize we went to a local church and I got my answer. In my life if I want to change from the person I have become into the person God made me to be then I will have to surrender my life to him. I don’t mean a onetime promise saying “God I will never do _____ again.” I mean a full surrender from the heart, a continuous decision. The pastor said that in order to do that (because surrendering to God is a very hard thing to do) we need to keep looking forward; we need to call out to God and not let ourselves slide back. When Lot’s wife looked back she openly showed to God where her heart was, where she felt her true home was. When we look back and fall away from God into sin we show Him where our hearts are; but if we look forward and don’t let the devil push us back an inch that is where God can use us in amazing ways. Too often I’ve looked back in my own life, if there’s one thing I learned in Belize it’s this, we need to look ahead towards God and never look back or turn around

I'll Never Forget You

This post can also be found in it's original source at dutchboylife.blogspot.com.

The only thing I can really say now is that I wish I had written this sooner, but with extra time I was able to reflect and outline my thoughts clearly. While I was away in Belize, I was only gone for three days, Dutch passed away. Not to judge but to people who do not have dogs Dutch may just be a dog, but to me he was so much more. I remember when we got him and how his curious name came about, part homage to President Ronald Reagan and to Dutch chocolate; I remember how small he was yet how large his feet were. I remember him as a young dog full of energy eager to run around the house or jump up and put his paws on my shoulders. I remember him as an older dog, as a guardian, we used to rent a house in Cape Cod and he would roam at night to check up on all of us to see if we were okay. He also had the habit of if anyone were getting frustrated or angry he would run up and put his paws on your lap to calm you down. And then in his last months as his sickness worsened he would lie on the floor and put his paw on my arm just to let me know he’s there and he wants me to stay with him. Dutch knew what was going on, and he was a part of my family, we used to have a running joke that he could talk, it was common for one of us to ask “what did he say?” I really could go on and on and even then it wouldn’t do him justice, there is just too much to say to really explain him, how he loved to go on walks and rides, he loved cheese, he loved kids, how he never kissed anybody but instead pushed his nose in your ear, and how could I forget that big smile he would always have whenever I came home. I remember that he loved to come to my baseball games, there was one time when I had hit my first homer, a deep drive to right and Dutch missed it, so in my next at bat the second pitch I saw I smacked into center field, just so he could see one. To be honest I couldn’t believe he was gone, I thought he would run around the corner at the sound of my voice and fill the house with loud barks and spread hair all over the place as he wagged his tail. Even in this time of sadness though, I know God cares for him too, just as much as my family did and is taking good care of him. I loved Dutch, and even though I got cross with him and told him how much of a pain he was when he “went on strike” and rolled in the grass outside, I would give anything just to take him out one more time. As for what to do with this blog I have decided to leave it up, and I will make a collection of pictures in a slide show in his honor. Dutch was a blessing and out of all the first dogs I could have, I’m glad it was him.

Love

I saw a great movie that really made me think, it was called To Save a Life. I won’t ruin it for you but essentially it is about a boy named Jake Taylor whose childhood friend commits suicide. Jake doesn’t know how to respond initially but he eventually gets involved in a local church, builds a relationship with God, and changes his life dramatically to impact those around him. What made me think was this: we have so much influence on the people around us, everything I do or say is seen by people and processed the question is what message am I giving off? In Belize we went to a local church and the pastor asked the congregation this, when was the last time someone told you they loved you, and when was the last time you told someone you loved them? When was the last time I told somebody I loved them? Sure I love my family and friends but how often do I let the people around me know how much I really cared? Before I became a Christian I thought nobody cared, I thought my life was going nowhere and then out of the blue I get invited to church and all these people shower me with love, that’s what the Gospel is all about and that is what we should be doing to those around us. Something I realized in Belize is I don’t have to travel the world to tell people God loves them, I can do it in my hometown. I can talk to the lonely person with few friends, I can help out the teammate who is having trouble, I can tell my parents how much I appreciate everything they do. So often I write about faith but you know what, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 that out of faith, love, and hope love is the most important.