Next Pitch Theory

Reminders are good.   Yesterday, I received an excellent one of how I need to take life in better stride when after work I jumped into my car to discover a large crack in my front windshield.   My first reaction was that of disgust, but my mind quickly turned to another incident that happened a few months ago.

Two months ago, I was driving to work and decided to fuel up and made a startling discovery.  Much to my surprise when I opened the fuel door the gas cap was missing. My first response was that of anger and frustration. When I thought about it I was pleasantly reminded of another such incident.  That was the day I invoked the next pitch theory.

About twelve years ago I was pitching for my church’s softball team when my first baseman and sometimes catcher, Rob Glasner, taught me a valuable lesson.  My team was up by just a run or two with one out to go in the last inning and I was growing tired.   It was then that the umpire made a flagrantly bad call that adversely affected my team.   The bases were full with runners and he called an obvious strike a ball and made the count full.

Normally, I had a history of when things didn’t go my way that I would meltdown. However, on this particular evening that was not the outcome.   My friend, Rob, sensing I was about to lose it called time out.   He then offered me some sound advice I have never since forgotten.   “Forget about everything else and make the next pitch,” he told me.   I heeded his advice and threw a pitch that the batted promptly popped up to the third baseman for the final out causing us to win the game.

So, here is how I used the next pitch theory in the two mishaps I mentioned earlier.  In the case of my gas cap, I just got a new one later that day after work.   In the case of my windshield, I just have to pay a fifty dollar deductable and the insurance company will get me a new one.

Sometimes life just seems unfair. However, we need to remind ourselves, like my gas cap and cracked windshield does for me, that we just need to make the next pitch.

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Going Deep

There is something you should know about me: I am a huge Miami Dolphins’ fan. My daughter and I even have a special cheer we do where we put on our ‘Dolphin fins”.

When I first became a Dolphin fan in the early seventies quarterback Bob Griese was my favorite player. He wore the number twelve, won two Super Bowls and on top of that he wore glasses just like I did. But, when he retired no one seemed to be able to fill the void.

In 1983 the Dolphins drafted Dan Marino and his famous quick release, but even then I still favored Griese. Although I loved the fact Marino could win games and throw the deep ball to the Marx brothers, for some odd reason I just wasn’t hooked. Maybe it was his was fiery and brash mannerisms or maybe the fact he wore the number thirteen. It took a few years, but in time he won me over. Since then, Dan Marino has become my all-time favorite player, but it has little to do with football. Here’s how he did it:

Family matters most to Dan Marino.  He is a father of six, who loves his wife and family well.  He and his family adopted twice from China just like my family and I.  Dan even has a daughter named Lia, just like I do. I always admire a man who shows compassion to the orphans. His love for family was best publicly evidenced when at his enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, his eldest son, Daniel, gave a touching induction speech for his dad.
 
Dan and his wife, Claire, have even started their own organization to help families whose children are diagnosed with autism. They did so because their son, Michael, was diagnosed with the condition at a young age and they decided to do something to help others struggling through the same diagnosis. Too many times when athletes and celebrities do badly they get noticed, but when they do something compassionate it tends to get sidelined.

Then there is a story I read about Marino when he was still playing for the Dolphins. I believe he and the Dolphins were in Chicago to play against the Bears and Dan took the time to be compassionate and go to a hospital and visit a sick, little boy. He could have chosen to be elsewhere, but he didn’t. The article left me with the impression that Dan wished to downplay his part in the visit and his wish was simply to raise the boy’s spirits.

Now, Dan Marino is not the only athlete who visits kids who are sick, but it was and is good to see someone of prominence who is not afraid to take the time to show a little tenderness.  In my opinion, Marino will not only be known as a Hall of Fame quarterback with that legendary quick release, but as a Hall of Fame dad and man who is not afraid to show his softer side. That in the end is what really won me over, because anyone can score touchdowns on the field, but not everyone can do it off the field in the game of life.

Although I have never had the privilege of being on the receiving end of a Dan Marino touchdown, his special brand of kindness and compassion has hit me right between the numbers, from someone who is going deep with his life.

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Don't Forget

Just the other day, Lia and I were at the grocery store doing self checkout when we made an exciting new discovery. As I finished pay my bill, a computer voice said these words, “Don’t forget to take your receipt.” This was music to my daughter’s ears because for some reason she has a real fascination with receipts. This got me to thinking in relation to the last month and I came up with a short list of things I entitled my DON’T FORGET list.

- Don’t forget your passport when you are in a foreign country. It is a huge reality check to realize that this is one item you must guard with your life.

- Don’t forget to kiss your wife goodbye in the morning. Needless to say, one morning I did and it threw my day off kilter because I felt I was missing something all day long.

- Don’t forget to thank people for helping us adopt Lia. To all who have helped in any way to bring this little dynamo into our lives, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.

- Don’t forget to check the yard before you mow for yellow jacket nests in the ground. I made a painful discovery when I was stung several times in the ankle yesterday. However, I may have lost the battle, but I won the war when I dusted their nest with pesticide.

- Don’t forget to always hug your kids. Let’s just say I speak from experience on this one and was reminded when I hugged my daughter, Sianna, goodbye for a week of summer camp yesterday.

- Don’t forget that everything I have is because of God and I don’t deserve a single blessing He gives to me. The trip to China reinforced this premise that if I got what I deserve, well I’d rather not talk about it.


- Don’t forget how good it is to have a drink with ice in it and not worry if it will make you sick or not. Anyone who has ever traveled overseas knows exactly what I mean by that.


- Don’t forget to always do your best no matter what. This again rang true over in China because we so learned to lean into Jesus. We did all we could to make right decisions and then just trusted Him to press out all the wrinkles and calm our fears.


Suffice it to say, I didn’t forget my receipt the other day and was so gently reminded of the important things in life. First off, by a simple little piece of paper with numbers on it. And secondly, by the little girl who has holding that paper doing the happy bunny dance out the automatic opening doors.

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Why Not?

Every soul is born with the God given need to belong and be loved by someone. (Inspired by Rev. Al Detweiler)

On more than one occasion my wife and I have been asked, “why adopt?”. The answer we give is, “why not?” In adopting our two girls from China, God made it abundantly clear that this is what we needed to do, so we did it.

Sometimes I think to myself, where would I be if God had not chosen to adopt me into His family? Since I am a father myself, I feel I should take my cues from my heavenly Father and do my part to help every child I can to have a family.

My wife and I never really planned to adopt, it just kind of happened. Several years into our marriage we heard a radio show about it and discussed it as something we would consider, but our kids were very young and the discussion was put on the shelf, and we just kept on living.

Then in the year 2000, we experienced a life changing event when we had to say goodbye to our seven year old daughter who passed away. We were simply devastated. After counseling and time to process our loss we began to revisit the idea of adoption. We had room in our home and hearts for another child. Although, we still had our son who was ten at the time, it just seemed like the right thing to do; a simple matter of moving forward.

Adoption, at least for me, allowed the opportunity to think about something else beside myself and how much pain I was going through. So, in 2003, after a lengthy process we completed our first adoption from China and brought home a ten month old little girl. Just recently, through a miracle of faith and obedience to God, despite our lack of finances, we completed our second adoption of another Chinese daughter who is eight.

Consider for a moment, the many examples of famous people who have been adopted: Moses, Dave Thomas, Nancy Reagan, George Washington Carver, Steve Jobs, Crazy Horse, Sarah McLachlan, Gerald Ford, Faith Hill, Scott Hamilton, Melissa Gilbert, John Lennon and Michael Oher. Just imagine if their parents had said no. It’s what’s inside a person that matters the most. When given the opportunity, the people on this list flourished and made worthy accomplishments. They made a difference because someone believed in them enough to give them a chance, and then they made the most of it.

In becoming an adoptive father God has given me a unique privilege to love the little children like Jesus did. Who hasn’t sung, Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red, yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. So, if Jesus loves the little children and we know from the scriptures, He does, then so should I, whether they are born to me or not.

Over the years, I have also been inspired and encouraged to adopt by my neighbor, Kass Detweiler. She is an eighty-two year old widow, who along with her husband Al adopted nine kids during the sixties and seventies when it wasn’t very popular to do so. Kass has been a mentor to my wife and me over the years. On more than one occasion, she has reminded us that God will not lead you somewhere and then leave you to fend for yourself. He will walk with you till the end of the journey and come through for you in ways you never imagined possible.

There is a secret I have discovered in life that when it comes to love if you don’t share it, it simply goes to waste. Dennis Prager, a nationally syndicated radio show host and an adoptive parent himself, once said this, love is infinitely more important than blood and I would rather pass on my values than my genes. Love should never be wasted, nor should the opportunity to mold and shape a soul for the better. The funny thing about love is you don’t have to save it up, but rather, your love grows the more you share it.

To be perfectly honest adoption is hard work, a challenge to say the least. Although, when we have biological children, we can never anticipate the challenges we will face with them as well. However, I am reminded every morning that I am doing the right thing, as I check on my daughters while they are peacefully sleeping like little angels. The pervading thought is always “it was worth it”.

It makes perfect sense to me that if every soul is born with the God given need to belong and be loved by someone, then why not let that someone be me.

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Running on Air

Last night, while sitting on my sofa eating animal crackers, I found what I had been waiting for all week; the heartwarming story of this Olympics. I must give my wife the credit though because I was about to go to bed, when she advised me this might be something I might want to see.

The story of Oscar Pistorius or the Blade Runner as he is commonly referred to as is an intriguing one. He is an South African 400 meter sprinter who is a double amputee. His goal was to get to the Olympics and compete against able bodied athletes in the quarter finals. Although he finished last in his heat, from the smile on his face after the race, it was more than obvious he had met his objective

The most inspiring thing about Oscar was how he handled the moment with such style and grace. The announcer said that if he had done this or done that he could have possibly moved on. The Blade Runner didn’t seem to care because he seemed to understand the journey he was on and how hard he had to fight to even get the chance to run.

In 2007, he had been prohibited from competing due to the fact that many of his peers felt his graphite legs had given him an unfair advantage. However, in 2008 the ruling was overturned and he began to train and eventually all that hard work brought him to London. The moment of his personal triumph was immortalized when at the finish line he and the winner of the race exchanged name bibs as an act of respect.

This is what I love about the Olympics as I said in my last post, “the most important thing is to take part.” After watching Oscar Pistorius’ exhilarating run last night it was as if I was running on air right along with him, even though I never moved off the couch.

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Feeling Very Olympic

To steal a phrase from the movie, Cool Runnings, this past week has got me feeling very Olympic. So, In honor of the 2012 London Games I would like to share some of my favorite Summer Olympic memories:

-Bruce Jenner, taking a victory lap while waving an American flag, after he won the decathlon at the Montreal Games in 1976. It just gave me goose bumps for some odd reason.

-The Japanese gymnast, Shun Fujimoto, who in those same Montreal games, performed on the still rings with a broken leg at the knee. Not only did he perform almost flawlessly, but when he dismounted he endured indescribable pain when he landed. His gut wrenching performance propelled his team on to a gold medal.

- Mark Spitz, winning 7 gold medals in swimming at the Munich games in 1972. At the time, it was a record that seemed would last forever and would be impossible to break.

- Michael Phelps, when he outdid Spitz by winning 8 gold medals in swimming at the Beijing games, four years ago. It was one of those things you couldn’t help but watch and see if he could do it and do it he did.

- Kerri Strug, who despite a badly injured ankle, sticks the landing in the vault at the Atlanta Games in 1996 as Belaf Karolyi encouraged her, "Kerri, listen to me, you can do it." The result was a team gold medal for the USA and a stirring moment when Karolyi scooped up Strug in his arms and carried her up to the medal stand.

This brings me to three performances, that at least in my opinion best sum up the Olympics. So, let’s hand out some medals.

BRONZE: Talk about the ultimate David vs. Goliath story. At the Sydney Games in 2000, relative unknown, Rulon Gardner won the gold medal for the USA in Greco-Roman wrestling. Gardner, who before the Olympics had never won anything of significance now was facing the feared Olympic great, Alexander Karelin from the Soviet Union, who had won gold in the previous 3 Olympics. On top of that, the Russian champion had never lost in international competition in 13 years. I can still see the look of shock on the Russian’s face and the sheer look of elation on Gardner’s, when he won the gold medal match. It wasn’t so much that Gardner won, but that he had the courage to even try

SILVER: This is a story that I just stumbled upon, but reaffirms for me that there are still some people out there who care more about others than themselves. Lawrence Lemieux, a Canadian sailor competing in a yachting event in the Seoul Games in 1988 was in second place and poised to win a silver medal. It was then that he saw 2 sailors form a Singapore team who had capsized their boat and were in distress. He abandoned his race to save the injured competitors and subsequently arrived in 21st place. I love what he said about his heroism, "doesn't happen very often that anyone is put in that position, but you stop, you help.'' Although he did not medal, however, he was recognized by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) with the prestigious Coubertin Medal honoring his bravery and sacrifice. ''Only nine other individuals have received such an honor.

· GOLD: This particular moment still gets me all choked up. At the Barcelona Games in 1992, Derek Redmond of Great Britain was favored to win his 400 meter heat when tragedy struck. Midway through the race he tore a hamstring and fell in agony to the track. As he struggled through the excruciating pain to finish the race hopping along on one foot, his father entered the track and helped him complete the race, to a standing ovation from the crowd. Sometimes in life in matters more to finish the race rather than what place you finish. And to top it all off, it never hurts to be helped there by someone you love.

May this Olympics be full of feeling very Olympic moments like the ones above. And may we all realize, like the famous Olympic saying goes, “the most important thing is not to win but to take part.”

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