Devastated

The only word that I can think of to describe my feelings today and the feelings of our family is DEVASTATED!

For the past three days, we have spent time at the baseball field in tryouts for the middle school baseball team. Brandon worked really hard. Made all of his catches in the field except one. Has great speed. I did not get to see the batting last night, but one of the dads called me and said that Brandon hit the ball harder that he had ever seen him hit it. All of that being said--he did not make the team.

Since he was nine years old, Brandon has made and started on every All-Star team for which he has been eligible. All but one of those years(his first) he has been the starting short stop. Until last season, he went every season he ever played without striking out more than ten times in the whole season. Most of those seasons striking out less than five times IN THE ENTIRE SEASON!! He is known mostly for his glove. It is very rare for him to make errors.

I know what your thinking. "Here is a bragging dad who is hurt." I guess you would be right except for the many phone calls I received today by parents who cannot believe it. I have always said that I do not have to brag on him. His record and God given talent speak for themselves.

Now, with all that off my chest, I have told Brandon that he has two choices. He can lay down and quit and by doing that make the coaches believe that they were right OR he can get up, dust himself off, and go back next year and show them what they missed. I hope he will chose the latter.

Brandon is a good kid. His reaction to his grandmother who went and ate lunch with him today was, "Well, I guess God just wanted me to rest my arm." He is smart, athletic, and a Christian. I hope that he will learn from this disappointment and move on. Life is not sports and I know this too shall pass, but today it hurts.

Also, on an even more serious note, Danielle, her mom and I went to Birmingham to the doctor about her seizures. She is still having the absance seizures (staring spells that last for sometimes several seconds). Her doctor said that her physical exam was good. She has good reflexes and is not hampered by her seizures in that way. We praise God for that. She is, however having problems concentrating in school. The doctor thinks that she may be having too many of them to concentrate well. We are adjusting her medication. The doctor hopes that she will do better on this. Please implore God on her behalf and ask that He take these seizures away.

Please pray for Danielle and Brandon and all of us. God bless you all and thanks again for listening to my heart!

Mathematical

I don't know about the theology of all this and some of you may have seen this before, but I thought it was worth blogging

What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been in situations where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 101%? What equals 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:

H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K

8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

and

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E

11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But,

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E

1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

AND, look how far the love of God will take you

L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D

12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that: While Hard work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it's the Love of God that will put you over the top!

You math guys can have a heyday with this one!!

Good News For Ralph Thompson

Praise the Lord for every victory! Laura Thompson, you all know her as "anonymous," called today and also emailed the following good news about Ralph. You'll remember Ralph from the photos of his car a couple of blogs ago.

"Praise be to God! Ralph is off the ventilator!!! They took him off at 7:10 this morning (he's so precise) and he's talking a mile a minute!! He still has a long way to go, but he's crossed one of the two biggest hurdles!!

Please continue to pray for him and for our entire family. Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers...they're working!!!"

Thought all of you would be interested in knowing this. I'm not sure what the next biggest hurdle is, but maybe Laura will post and let us know. Thanks for your prayers.