Today was laundry day, but not just any laundry day. Today was the toughest laundry day of all… baseball uniform laundry day.
My boys come home from every game covered in mud. Covered. They can be on the fields for 5 minutes, and they are already filthy. Honestly, I don’t know how they do it; I think it’s a gift!
Even more, they are capable of grinding in that red clay so deep and with so much pressure that the pants are often permanently stained. They are a mess after every game!
Today I was particularly grumpy about the cleaning. “Why are these so dirty?” I asked myself as I scrubbed Andrew’s pants. “Why do they have to get so filthy?”
As I was waiting for the clothes to wash, I looked through some pictures of our team’s Championship Win. When I saw this picture of Andrew, I thought….
To make it to base he had to slide in the mud.
To catch the ball he had to dive in the dirt.
To be in the game he had to give it his all.
To help his team win, he had to get dirty.
The dirt was not optional. A clean uniform would look nice, but it would have meant he either hadn’t played or hadn’t given 100%.
I immediately teared up as I heard that sweet quiet Voice whisper, “Yes. He had to get dirty, and so do you!”
Truth is, for the past few months I’ve been sitting on the sidelines… not sharing, not reaching out, not ministering. I was tired. I was tired of the pain. I was tired of the questions. I was tired of the fear of losing. I was tired of worrying about what people thought of me. I was exhausted. In retrospect, it kinda boils down to I didn’t want to get “dirty” anymore.
So I sat in the dugout of life… safe, secure, not being vulnerable with my thoughts and feelings. I sat there with a clean uniform, but with no action.
Today, I decided to get back in the “game.” I decided risk getting my uniform dirty again. Today, I decided to started to write a book (again). I’m not sure what it will look like. I don’t know how it will happen. I don’t know if it will happen.
I may fail. I may fall. I might strike out. I might try to slide into a base and get dirty for nothing. I might get hurt. I might be rejected.
But I just don’t want when I get to Heaven for GOD to look at me and say, “Look at your clean uniform! Obviously, you sat nicely on the bench!”
I want HIM to say, “Look at you! Your uniform is a mess. You got out once in a while. You made some errors. You were hurt. But you, obviously, gave it your all. You played your hardest. And you always, always listened to the voice of your Coach… even when it was messy! My good and faithful servant, you have won!”
And so… here I go. I’m out of the dugout. I’m ready to play.
But I don’t want to do it alone! It’s always better with a team!
So I’m asking…How about you? What crazy play is HE calling you to do? Get out of the dugout today… let’s play ball! It’s time to get our uniforms dirty! It’s time to win!
Photo by Keesha Millard
