Our Stories
Opening Day
By Aaron Soderlund | posted 04/03/2008
"A voice of one calling, 'In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.'" (Isaiah 40:3)
Monday 3/31/08:
8:00am - 1:00pm: Take care of Nathan and let Beth rest with 1-week-old Josh. Take Nathan on 'field trip' to the grocery store for hot dogs and buns. Entertain the 2-year-old.
1:00pm - 2:30pm: The whole house is asleep except for me. Just a little bit of work to keep everything in order while I'm home for these couple weeks.
2:30pm - 3:30pm: Get out the Major League Baseball logo placemats, Mariner plates, Mariner cups, Mariner baseball helmet bowls, and baseball glove shaped bowls. Fill glove bowls with peanuts in one and Cracker Jacks in the other. Snacks for Nathan in a helmet bowl. Turn on Mariner Opening Day pre-game show and festivities. Cry only a little bit as they talk about Dave Niehaus and his election to the baseball Hall of Fame.
3:30pm: Nathan wakes up. Just in time for snack and first pitch. Beth and Josh wake up soon there after. Perfect timing.
3:40pm - 6:45pm: Sit on couch and relish in a game that brings more to the table than I could put into words for you to understand. Snack first on the peanuts and Cracker Jacks. Next barbeque hot dogs for family dinner as we all watch the game together. Begin remembering and recalling all of the emotions baseball brings out in me. Memories. Stories. Traditions. Smells. Fears. Excitement. Accomplishments. Hurts. Injuries. Friendships. Pride. History. Relationships. Sounds. To name only a few. Watch game. Soak in the feeling of what Opening Day is to me. Five months without baseball... now over. 'Bout time. It's Opening Day!
I anticipate Opening Day for a long time before it actually arrives. I make sure that my calendar is clear for when the first game of the Mariner season starts. Two years ago, we even brought all of the plates and placemats and everything to the hospital because Nathan had just been born. Because what is Opening Day without my traditions? It is a day that I honestly block out in preparation for the beginning of the baseball season. It is not a love that only runs as deep as the Mariners. It is a love for a game that has meant more to me over the course of my life that I could ever describe to you. I eagerly anticipate its arrival every year. I prepare for it so that I may experience it to the full.
Do we as individual Creeksiders anticipate and prepare for when we're going to encounter Christ? Have we set ourselves up in a way that is going to allow us to experience Him to the full? Or we do try to fit Him into a schedule when it's convenient for us? Is He ever convenient? Are we prepared in a way that we have everything set up for him in advance so that we can encounter the Living God? I have a lot of emotions tied in to baseball. But that pales in comparison to my emotions for Jesus. But I don't prepare for him like I do for Opening Day. Why not? Do you? Just another reason that shows that God is a baseball fan. He just always seems to show up there.
To respond to this message, email Aaron at aaron@windermere.com.
