I had started to write a blog about being settled in Jackson
as the first half of the season wrapped when we found out that Steven was
called up to AAA Tacoma. Baseball
life at its finest! I still want
to mention some of what I had intended to write but obviously this post has
taken a whole different turn.
I arrived in Tennessee after a three-day drive from
Arizona. Mira and I dealt with
some carsickness and less than fancy hotels, but we made it! With the car unpacked and the apartment
looking more like home, Mira and I found some great walking places and were
able to relax. I started working
in the ticket office at the field and attending a local church where I also
helped out with vacation bible school.
I planned a fun camping trip with atv-ing and horse riding for the
All-Star break. Jackson didn’t
seem so bad and I was pretty comfortable.
That should’ve been a sign that everything was about to change.
When Steven was told he was being promoted I was waiting in
the parking lot after a game. I was
excited and proud, but also completely overwhelmed. We had 6 hours to get as much of his stuff packed as
possible and come up with a plan.
Jackson to Tacoma is a 35 hour drive and I knew it wasn’t a task I felt
comfortable taking on by myself.
We had thought this call up might happen, just not now. A promotion is always a blessing and
always the goal so I tried to keep that in mind as I began to run through
possible plans with Steven over Steak N Shake.
If you’ve been reading my blog then you know I have really
tried to completely trust my life to God and have 100% faith that He will
provide and take care of Steven and I. This has been a great opportunity for me to do just
that. In the last 24 hours I can’t
even explain to you how things have come together so perfectly. Friends and family have stepped in to
help us out and one of the church members opened their house to me here until I
am able to fully move to Tacoma.
I found that I went from being overwhelmed to being able to just be
joyful.
I will be the first one to say that I have definitely
insulted God’s power with my worries and anxiety in the past but this time I
have let it go. It has been my
prayer that God will continue to lead us and that I will trust it all to come
together in His perfect way.
I have to tell you though that as I prayed for God to help Steven and I
with this transition I started to feel it was extremely petty. For the last week a couple in our
baseball and PAO family has been dealing with a very scary situation involving
their 2 year old son. His heart
stopped beating and he was dead, only to be resuscitated. This morning as I prayed for God
to continue to provide, I just had to stop. I know God hears all prayers and can help us all but I just
had to tell him to focus his efforts on little Copeland. I know that both Copeland and his family
can use all of the prayers possible so I encourage you to read more about their
story and lift them up in prayer (http://willlaurenstartup.blogspot.com/).
Copeland’s story has been a reminder to me that life is so
much bigger than baseball; a reminder that God can use both positive and
negative situations to draw us closer to Him. Whether we stay in AAA, move back down, or find ourselves in
the big leagues, all we can do is continue to trust in Him to provide for
us. We could not be more thankful
for all of the blessings we have received and all of the ways God has shown how
faithful He is to us.
