Well here we go again. Another one of our boys is getting married this weekend. Where did the time go? It seemed like just yesterday that Eric was climbing on the kitchen counter, making faces in the bathroom mirror, eating watermelon on the dining room carpet, playing He-man and Skeletor with his brother Todd. Wow! What happened? Now he's all grown up, lives in another state and time zone, and is getting married on Saturday.
I often wonder if we did a good job raising the kids. Will they make it on their own? Will their values reflect a love for God and for neighbor? Will they live out the faith that we tried to instill upon them? We laid the foundation. Will they build on it or seek another? When they were little, we made ourselves available to catch the kids should they fall. Not that we don't attempt to do that now. However, the time comes when you must let go. I'm not talking removal from their lives, but the willingness to release them to this thing we call real life. It's hard to see your kids fall, maybe get hurt, and struggle. But that's how they learn, that's how they grow and mature.
So Saturday, once again we let go, sending another one of our kids out into the world to begin a new journey called marriage. I have no doubt he'll make it. I have no doubt his new wife will be by his side, no matter what. We are passing the baton on to her as it now becomes her responsibility to catch him when he falls and to help him back up just as we did these past 2 decades. Pray for us. Pray for Eric and Andrea. It is much appreciated.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Consequences?
Did any of you follow the Kenny Rogers fiasco the last week or so? To refresh your memory, Kenny Rogers is an all star pitcher for the Texas Rangers who decided he did not want a TV cameraman to do his job so he threw an angry fit, smashing the camera, sending the cameraman to the hospital. I watched the film several times and Rogers was not provoked in any way, just having a bad day I guess.
For his antics, the baseball commissioner fined him $50,000 and suspended him for 20 games. Of course, he appealed through the union which meant he was still eligible to play the all-star game last Tuesday. The decision to play was now up to Rogers.
I thought to myself that this would be a good opportunity for Rogers to ask for forgiveness and out of respect for the cameraman, his family, and the game, graciously bow out. However, he chose to play the game because he "deserved" to be there. According to his thinking, his off the field antics did not have any bearing on his on-field performance therefore he should play.
Now I'm 100% for forgiveness when a person repents. That's the Christian way. Yet, there are still consequences when one is forgiven. If I were to run a stop sign because I was in a hurry and seriously injured somebody, even if I asked for forgiveness and promised to never run a stop sign again, I still would have to pay the price for injuring another person - probably jail time, a finanacial payout, etc.
Personally, I lost a lot of respect for Rogers. His integrity took a hit in my opinion. Yes, he did apologize but he would have made a much greater impression upon people, especially kids, if he would have repented and stayed home from the all star game and if would have just owned up to the penalty by the commissioner.
Interestingly enough, I find it ironic that he gave up a homerun to the National League - poetic justice maybe? We'll see what comes of the appeal. Consequences? Stay tuned.
For his antics, the baseball commissioner fined him $50,000 and suspended him for 20 games. Of course, he appealed through the union which meant he was still eligible to play the all-star game last Tuesday. The decision to play was now up to Rogers.
I thought to myself that this would be a good opportunity for Rogers to ask for forgiveness and out of respect for the cameraman, his family, and the game, graciously bow out. However, he chose to play the game because he "deserved" to be there. According to his thinking, his off the field antics did not have any bearing on his on-field performance therefore he should play.
Now I'm 100% for forgiveness when a person repents. That's the Christian way. Yet, there are still consequences when one is forgiven. If I were to run a stop sign because I was in a hurry and seriously injured somebody, even if I asked for forgiveness and promised to never run a stop sign again, I still would have to pay the price for injuring another person - probably jail time, a finanacial payout, etc.
Personally, I lost a lot of respect for Rogers. His integrity took a hit in my opinion. Yes, he did apologize but he would have made a much greater impression upon people, especially kids, if he would have repented and stayed home from the all star game and if would have just owned up to the penalty by the commissioner.
Interestingly enough, I find it ironic that he gave up a homerun to the National League - poetic justice maybe? We'll see what comes of the appeal. Consequences? Stay tuned.
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