During the summer of 1994 I lived in the booming town of Gaffney, South Carolina. I had played baseball all spring and that summer I had been selected to play on one of the “All Star” teams. Our first tournament was hosted in our own home town (it was the “District 8 Tournament”) and if we won that tournament we would travel to play in the next tournament (and so on and so forth).
Our team was pretty good that year and the town was expecting a lot out of us. Each tournament was “double elimination” which meant that you definitely didn’t want to lose game 1 (it would just make the rest of the tournament a lot longer, plus you were more likely to go home). So, you will never guess what happened to us at game 1 of the District Tournament…that’s right, we lost!
You probably can see where I am going with this, but just in case I will finish it out. The odds were against us after that lose, but we put it all on the line, won the next 3 games and were playing for the championship. The problem was we had to beat the same team twice in one day in order to win it all! The odds were again against us…
Somehow we won game 1 and it was onto game 2…the same day! Momentum was on our side, but by the next to last inning the scoreboard wasn’t. We were down by a run and it looked like all our “come backs” were going to go down the drain. Then, it happened again…we came back and won the District 8 Tournament against all odds!!!
I tell that story because it tells the story of a comeback (many actually)! I believe a “come back” has more to it than we give credit for now a days and is worth a deeper and more intense survey. I think a true “come back” has a few qualities to it that when put together not only sets a “come back” in motion, but it enables it to succeed. For me, I believe these qualities can be summed up in what I call the 3 P’s:
Passion
In a word…heart! In everything we do we must have heart, if we don’t, maybe we should be doing it. One of my most favorite quotes of all time I think sums this up best. Theodore Roosevelt said…
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
“Citizenship in a Republic,”
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
Purpose
Having heart is great but God must direct my heart! I must find my purpose in Him, not my own ambition. If I have all the heart in the world and pursue something I am not called to (don’t have a purpose for) it would be like me trying to win a marathon… run 26.2 miles, and never getting off the treadmill. I’ve got the heart… but I’m missing something pretty important, aren’t I?
Plan
The saying goes, “No one plans to fail they simply fail to plan!” Growing up I hated that saying, but as I grow…I realize how true it really is! I believe it is a necessity for us to take the passion and purpose God has given us and implement a plan that puts our passion and purpose to work for God’s glory! Ultimately I have to realize that with everything I do it has to be in obedience to HIS plan and for HIS Glory!
For me everything I do must have a God-given purpose that is fueled by the God-given passion that overflows in me and is worked out though the God-given plan that has been laid in front of me!
So, the question is…will “Just Pudge” be back? Will he make the “come back” or will he hang up his “blogging hat” for good? Is this the end of “Just Pudge” …a short follow up post discribing “the end” OR is something else in the balance? The answer and much more next Monday (May 14th)…
Drop a Comment…
What do you think will happen? What would you like to see happen? If there is a “come back” what would you like to see some posts about?
May 7th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
May I suggest shorter posts that I can read quicker.
May 7th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
You should definitely keeping blogging. I was inspired by your blog so I started my own. Not only have I been growing in my walk with Jesus but I have helped other people. For that I believe that you should follow what God’s wants from you. If it is blogging or something else I believe that we will all benefit from God through you.