Angels in the Outfield

I’m making this two parts for those of you that just want to be clued in on a hilariously awkward Sarah story.  Yous guys can stop reading at part two where I get a little emotional and preachy, but maybe there are some of you out there that need it as much as I do, so that’s for you 🙂

Part I: Sarah Story

I was in Seattle this week for work and my coworker and I ditched our standard 12 hour day a little early to catch the Astros/Mariners game.  Two teams who are very near and dear to my heart for obvious reasons.  I was wearing my Uncle’s SUBA 61 jersey that his 6’4” bullpen catcher/coach self wore in the early 80’s (read: this thing falls well below my knees and I looked completely ridiculous).

At my request, my coworker purchased tickets ten rows behind the Astros dugout so I could try and catch a glimpse of my main man, Adam Everett.  A few of the players looked back to see the lone Astro fan behind their dugout, swimming in her jersey, but no real acknowledgement.  Until the conclusion of the 4^th inning.

The Astros’ players were running in from the field and everyone in our section stood up to try and get one of the balls that the player was going to toss into the stands.  I stood up with my right hand halfheartedly in the air and my left hand at my side holding my beer.  The ball was tossed.  My hand was in the air.

THE BALL LANDED IN MY FREAKING HAND!!!!

When I say “landed” I mean, it just floated right in there.  I didn’t even MOVE my hand.  I have 200+ people that were nearby and can confirm this story, including my coworker who said “WHAAAT?!?! That seriously all just happened in slow motion!!!”  Everyone started clapping and cheering and I was still standing there in shock with my hand in the air (oddly enough, not the first time this has happened).

After the shock wore off (roughly six [very long] seconds), I looked around and made eye contact with all the cheering/laughing/smiley Mariner’s faces and yelled to everyone “OH MY GOSH I JUST CAUGHT THAT!”

Realizing that everyone was in fact now laughing at my reaction, I immediately sat down and put my head in my hands.

I could not.

Stop.

Laughing. 

My coworker deemed it as an opportune time to make a food run, leaving me there in my lonesome to settle down…which didn’t happen for another two innings.

That hilariously awkward moment gave me a huge realization that I have really needed this past year.

Reenactment Photo

Part II: Much Needed Life Realization

I have been down and discouraged.  I have been needing a major pick-me-up, like… for a while.  I feel I’m approaching the time in life when your bubble is burst and you start seeing all the bad in the world.  It’s my understanding that most people start seeing this post high school, or post college… so I thought I had survived the epidemic that is ‘growing old’ as I have personally stood in the face of tragedy and shared in the tragedies of my close friends.  Allow me to put it in perspective though…  it wasn’t until six months ago that I learned that wine has calories.

I’ve been bopping through life, drinking calorie free wine and I remember very vividly, last June after hearing about the Brazilian soccer match throwing my hands up in the air and calling it quits.  There is no good left in the world.  This world is a terrible place.  Depressing, right??  As someone that avidly follows the news and world events, you can only imagine the downward spiral I have been on this past year.  So many tears shed for the hurt of this world.  For friends who are sick.  For loved ones who have passed.  For broken, broken hearts.  This world is full of sadness and death and fear and quite frankly my small insignificant speck of a heart can’t take anymore.

The worst part is, I know the “fix”

Love God, Love others.

Serve God, Serve others.

Know God, know peace.  No God, No Peace.

It’s all about the company you keep.

WWJD, amirite?!

Ok those are all super corny/cliché phrases, most of which I’ve seen on billboards between Abilene and Dallas, TX.  And to be honest, that’s exactly what they feel like to me right now… “super corn/cliché phrases.”  I know that those phrases, while cliché, have incredible depth and power behind them… but the truth is, I’m just not there yet.

Where I’m at is… when I need a pick-me-up more than ever, God sends a baseball flying into the palm of my hand causing smiles and laughter for myself (2 full innings worth) and the entire section of 139 at Safeco field.  There is good in this world and God giving us glimpses of it every chance He gets.  It’s up to us to create more opportunities for Him.  It’s up to us to love the world in His name.  Here is my tiny little attempt to share smiles and love and brighten a day or two in His name 🙂

Root, root root for the AAAASSSSSSSSSTROS!

A Thank You To The Patriots

If you’ve held a conversation with me for more than 43 seconds it’s likely you’ve heard me talk about how much I love the city of Boston.

Sox Games

Singing Sweet Caroline at Sox games

Pats Games

Celtics Games

Ducklings

4th of July

4th of July with Neil Diamond

FALL!

I could go on forever… feel free catch up on some of my previous posts that are dedicated to my city:

Visito[u]r Guide: Boston, MA

Burb Dwellers vs. City Slickers – My soap box about people thinking Boston is a rude city

Top Ten Moments in the History of (my Experience with) Boston Sports! (aka the time I Arsenio Hall’d Ray Allen)

The Month That Was – aka the best month of my LIIIIIIFE

Definitely can’t forget about the available bachelors!! (LOVE YOU WOLFIE!) An Opportunity to Date Boston’s Most Eligible Bachelor

And even finding a portrait of grace via the MBTA… Grace: As Learned from the Boston Metro

I’m telling you… I love this city.

Patriots Day is tied for first on my Favorite Day in Boston List… St. Paddy’s Day, 4^th of July are tough to pass up (honorable mention to Opening Day at Fenway and the Santa Speedo Run).  Who would have thought, right??  Patriots Day???

Last Patriots Day I somehow managed to guilt three of my friends into leaving my apartment at 4:45a to watch the Battle of Lexington and Concord reenactment on the Lexington Green… WHERE THE ACTUAL BATTLE TOOK PLACE!!!

They love me, I swear…

The Battle of Lexington and Concord was one of the first battles fought of the Revolutionary War and the Patriots were the guys that fought it.  Who were the Patriots?  Nobodys.  Just a few rough and tough guys that believed in their cause, that believed in freedom, that did not back down and that stood their ground for something that was right.

Anyone that has sat with me at a sporting event has seen me get teary eyed when the National Anthem is sung (because it happens EVERY TIME), and anyone that has watched 4^th of July fireworks with me has witnessed the same teary eyed Sarah… America, the freedoms we have, and the people that defend our freedoms get me emotional.  Sue me.

The battle reenactment on Patriots Day was no exception.  I got a liiiiiiiiiittle emotional and have been intending to write this post ever since.

I was standing at the edge of the Lexington Green at 5:00a waiting for the reenactment.  I was trying to contain my excitement as I stood amidst the 200 year old houses surrounding the green that were there when the battle took place and it could just not be done.

AMERICA!!!

Silence came over the crowd as we heard the British Troops marching through Lexington.  Men wearing scrappy colonial clothes started running out of houses armed with one shot rifles and stood in the middle of the green…. And we were standing right there watching!  The British soldiers marched perfectly in sync to the drummer’s beat and approached the green in their perfectly matched, prestine uniforms.  Our ‘troops’ gathered themselves together in the middle of the green, forming a single line the length of the green to express to the British soldiers that they were not welcome… this was going to be AMERICA.

As the British soldiers approached the scraggly Patriot soldiers some of the Patriots fled… after all, death was imminent.  The British soldiers were now just a few yards away and the remaining men stood their ground, trembling in fear.  Rather than shooting the ten or so Patriots blocking their path, the Bristh leader called his troops to stopped marching, stopping within five feet of the faces of the Patriots.  The leader of the British troops yelled at the Patriots to move.  The Patriots stood their ground.

The British soldier yelled two then three more times.  More men fled from the danger of the line into the surrounding woods.  No one knows who fired the first shot, but it appeared to come from one of the houses and thus the battle began, killing most of the Patriots.  The British soldiers continued marching and would later make it to the North Bridge in Concord where “the shot heard ‘round the world” was fired.

There were so many thoughts going through my head at this reenactment that brought me to tears… as I saw the Patriots standing in the line, trembling as the uniformed British soldiers approached, I thought of my friends and [some former] loved ones that are currently serving our country.  I thought of my father and grandfather who served as Marines.  I prayed a prayer of gratitude for the people that have believed so much in freedom that they have fought to protect it.  It led me to ask myself… what do I believe in so much that I would stand in the face of the enemy and be willing to sacrifice my life for? 

As a Christian, the obvious answer should be Christ.  Which led me to ask… am I really willing to sacrifice my life for Christ?  Would I die, or even face danger for that matter, for the cause of Christ?  Ok forget death and danger… would I even be willing to give up my earthly pleasures for the sake of Christ, because often times I don’t.  Do I truly understand the statement I so frequently hear, “Christ died for me?”  Wow. Christ died for me.  These soldiers died for me.  These soldiers died for the cause of freedom, so that we could speak and worship and play and educate and live in a world that is free.  Christ is the true source of freedom and the true source of peace and He endured the wrath of God and died to give it to us.  Saying ‘I was moved’ is quite the understatement… I was completely awestruck.

Yesterday I brought myself back to that moment when I was standing on the Lexington Green and I attempted to sort through my thoughts after the explosions.  I could do nothing but sit at my desk with my head in my hands and cry.  The Boston Marathon has, for the past four years, been my little glimpse of heaven (as I have so proudly expressed) and was shattered by Evil.  By hatred.  By selfishness.  I was brutally reminded that we live in the world and that Satan’s presence exists.  I had to stomach people around me saying things like “the media is making a bigger deal of this than it really is… just two people died.”  Just.  I’m beginning to hate that word.  Say that to the mother of the eight year old boy.  Say that to his second grade classmates and explain to them why there is an empty desk in their classroom.  Say that to the families impacted by the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut… after all, it was “just” one classroom.  Ugh.  I wanted to vomit.

The only thing we can do is remember the pain of this sorrow and move forward.  How do we move forward?  In my attempt to stand for what is right, I have to express that we move forward when we pursue Christ.  We pursue and fight for what is right.  We love those that don’t love us back.  We reset our hearts and minds to the things not of this world, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  We set our hearts on things above and eagerly await His kingdom come.  We open our eyes and accept that God is a God that loves us and by knowing His love we will better learn to love each other and by loving each other, we change the world.  We have faith that the darkness has been overcome.

To the people in my favorite city and the place my heart calls home – I love you and pray blessings and peace in this time of sorrow.  Let us be reminded of the love that has been shown to us by our Creator and let us spread His love to the people of this world.

Love that dirty water…

Boston you’re my home

The Boston Marathon: A Race to Heaven!

In my last post I told you about how I got to check speed dating off my bucket list.  WAHOO.  I’ll tell you what’s not on my bucket list – running a marathon.  Unlike every other 25 year old something out there… I have literally never had this desire.  Oh well.  I do however love supporting people that run marathons and have (on more than one occasion  stood at various mile markers at various marathons that my friends have run with bottles of orange Gatorade, energy packs and Milky Way bars to pass on to them during their race.  Marathons are fun!

As most of the world is aware, the marathon of ALL marathons was this week – THE BOSTON MARATHON!!!! (In case the all caps and string of exclamation points didn’t give it away… I looooooooove the Boston Marathon!)  This was my fourth year experiencing the race first hand and every year I cry at least one point watching the runners go by.  Ok, I know I can get emotional about goofy things (4th of July, Battle of Lexington and Concord reenactment, Marley and Me, the homeless kid on Korea’s Got Talent, etc.) but I feel like this one is legitimate!  Watching people struggle in pursuit of fulfilling a life goal?  Seeing the dedication on their faces to finish something that has taken months (if not years) of  intense training?  Don’t even get me started on the military men and women that do it in all their gear… U.S.A!! U.S.A!!  I think the real reason I get emotional about this marathon in particular is because I feel like I get to witness a little piece of Heaven here on earth 🙂

Hebrews  12:1-3 says:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Watching the runners of the Boston Marathon provides us with such a great representation of our various walks (or runs) of faith – I’ve seen runners wearing tutu’s and gorilla costumes bouncing down Beacon Street at mile 23 like it’s nothing!  I’ve seen runners go by waving their arms up and down to rally the crowd for even louder cheers.  I’ve seen runners struggle to lift their feet another step.  I’ve seen the man who pushes his son in the wheelchair.  I’ve seen runners set world records.  I’ve seen injuries.  Really bad injuries.  I’ve seen people desperate for water.  And all I can do is cheer them on.

In the race we call life (cue soap opera narrative voice here), I can identify various points in my faith where I was rallying the crowd, or using all my strength to help someone else towards the finish line, or struggled to take just one more step, or desperate for water, or even waddling around in a tutu with a big smile on my face.

What really sets the Boston Marathon apart for me is the masses that come to cheer on the runners.  The entire city shuts down to show its support and there is not a single spot on either side of the 26.2 miles that is left empty; everyone in the city of Boston (and then some!) are out supporting the 22 THOUSAND + runners and it’s just one huge party!

When I think of the Kingdom of Heaven, I see the streets of Boston lined with thousands upon thousands of spectators and think of the cloud of witnesses that the author of Hebrew mentions.   All the angels in Heaven and those that have gone on before us line the entire path of our faith journey, cheering us on every step of the way as we run our race; they want nothing more than for us to cross the finish line and join them in the cheering squad, worshiping the Creator.  I think about the times when we grow weary and lose heart, and somehow we make it through to the next day (and the next and the next).  I think about  how we look forward in hope of the eternal joy that cannot be taken away from us.  But most of all, I think of never having to be separated from God, all thanks to The One who has run before us.

To the runners of the Boston Marathon – you are incredible.  If you’d like to put in a request for an orange Gatorade or a Milky Way, let me know and I will be there for ya next year!

To the rest of yous guys – be encouraged that all of Heaven is lining the full 26.2 miles of our lives cheering and anxiously waiting for us to finish our race.  We are pressing on towards the goal of eternal life.  Now let’s get some more runners, shall we?!

(That was figurative.  Still no desire to run a marathon 😉 just FYI)

Hoppy Keester!

Easter is just around the corner!!!!  I love Easter.  I love Spring 🙂  My favorite Easter was the one when Ashole and I decided to drive to Nashville from Abilene for the weekend. 

One of many decisions that we didn't really think thru... driving 28 hours in one weekend was really dumb of us.

photoshoot outtake

I may have gone a little overboard (what?) and held a photoshoot, used a picture from our photoshoot to make matching iron on t-shirts for us to wear for the trip, and decorated my car with carpaint.**  Ash and were trying to come up with the perfect phrase to write with the carpaint… ‘Easter Bash with Sarah & Ash in Nash’ wouldn’t fit across the windows of my SUV… so Ash suggested ‘Hoppy Keester!’ for the win.  Which definitely turned into us mooning everyone we passed on the freeway.  I love us.

**I’d like to express a formal apology to my future children (under the assumption someone would ever choose to reproduce with me) for how ridiculous I can get during holidays.  It’s embarrassing.  I know.

our shirts

This year I’m totally pumped for Easter in a different kind of way.  Having grown up in a loving Christian home where I could count how many church services I’ve  missed, I’ve always known the meaning of Easter – we’re celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, duh!  and I have the first grade Sunday school art to prove it 🙂  For the past year, I have been challenged by what Jesus’ death and resurrection means and have been processing how it is relevant to our lives today… I’ll be honest, it’s a lot to process and I’ve still got a looooooong ways to go.

Early last year I attended church service at James Island Community Church in Charleston, SC.  It was a pretty typical Sunday service for me until the pastor started talking about how many people have been crucified in the history of the world – in fact, it was a pretty popular form of punishment in Jesus’ time.  So why was this crucifixion any different?  Why do billions of people take time every year to observe ‘Holy Week’ and Easter?  It’s embarrassing to admit, but I can honestly say I hadn’t ever really thought of it.  The only response I could come up with was because… well…  Jesus was the Son of God and it was sad.   Definitely true… but let’s get beyond first grade refrigerator art shall we?

While hanging on the cross, Jesus fully absorbed the entire wrath of God.

Let me preface by saying that I believe that we as humans are incapable of ever understanding God’s power and wrath here on earth.  Personally, the closest I think I come to understanding God’s power is when I watch the ocean – how waves are controlled by our moon’s orbit… and that the tides change by the hour… and that there is an entirely unexplored world in its depths… and that when the tectonic plates of the earth move, entire nations can be taken down by its force… (and people wonder why I have to live on a coast ;))   But for real… that’s just the ocean, on one planet, in one universe, part of one galaxy.  This is not even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the full measure of God. 

So thinking about the magnitude of God’s power leads me to the magnitude of God’s wrath – how all of it could be absorbed into one body in the flesh.  Jesus prayed to God, “… if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me…” and the cup He was referring to is not a cup you drink out of.. it’s the ‘cup of wrath’ described in the Old Testament – the wrath of God.  The (extremely elementary) image I get when I think of Jesus enduring the wrath of God against the sin of the world is a tsunami passing through Jesus’ body until ‘it is finished.’  Powerful stuff.

I don’t know about you, but the acute understanding I have of God’s power and God’s wrath makes me realize that I don’t want to experience the wrath of God on my own… and guess what?  I don’t have to. 

Jesus left His throne in Heaven to show up on earth, to show us the way to live, to teach us about the Father, and above all to endure the wrath of God for the sins of this world; he rose from the dead and now we live in the hope that His sacrifice will bring us to Heaven.  To my non-Christian friends (that are still reading at this point!), this is what Christianity is all about and this is what you proclaim when you become a Christian.

It wasn’t until recently when I started feeling the weight of my sin and trying to bear the trials of life on my own.  It wasn’t until even more recently when I finally relieved myself of this anxiety and Jesus’ death and resurrection which is completely redefining my life.  Knowing the magnitude of Jesus’ sacrifice, knowing that my hope is not in or of this world, releasing myself from the burden of worry, guilt and pride  – I am provided with the blessing that I get to live each day with “inexpressible and glorious joy” and I will be celebrating Holy Week in a whole(y) new way – it’s not just Good Friday, it’s GREAT Friday. 

P.s. my apologies if you were offended by my Palm Sunday Facebook status: Shaking my bon bon while waving my palm palm – it was just an overflow of my inexpressible and glorious joy 🙂

HOPPY KEESTER EVERYONE!!!!  (   )(   )

::IT’S OFFICIAL::

¡I’M MOVING TO SAN DIEGO!

We all know nothing is official until it’s “Facebook Official” (learned that from my high schoolers)… so consider this me ‘making it official’ 🙂

For those of you that want the short version: I’ve been in Boston for nearly four years and I’m looking for a change of pace.  I’ll be leaving July 5th (made sure I’d be here for the 4th!!) and transferring to my firm’s office in San Diego.  YAY LIFE!  You can stop reading now 🙂

For those of you that want the extended version:

Life in Malibu with my scooter buddies 🙂

Post college (’08) I had a summer position at a church near Malibu and was having the time of my life. I loved the kids I worked with, loved the families, loved the lifestyle… it was perfect. A little too perfect.  I’m a person that is afraid of getting too comfortable with life, I very rarely take the easy way out (intentionally and unintentionally), I pride myself in working hard and taking ownership of what I do, but more than anything I firmly believe that God calls us to a life of adventure in His name.  Can I get an amen?!  I’ll blog on this topic later… lots to say.

Anyways – the adventure for me was buying a one way ticket to Boston to figure out life, just me and my Maker.  I came armed to battle with an air mattress, two duffel bags, two undergraduate degrees from a small private school in Abilene, Texas that no one has ever heard of (sorry ACU, but it’s true), and a huge goofy grin on my face.  The country happened to be in the middle of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression…  oh and my degrees were in finance and accounting… nbd.  There’s no getting around it – the odds were against me.

Four years later… it’s safe to say I am extremely blessed.  For anyone that has met me for > 5 minutes (or reads my blog), it quite literally is a miracle that I’m alive.

As far as the reasoning behind the move… earlier last summer I was led to believe that I’d be moving to start a new life in Pearl Harbor, HI for some reason….  hmmmm… weird.  That said, my heart was already in preparation to say goodbyes and move forward onto the next chapter.  Things quite obviously changed and I felt trapped.   

Everyone I talked to advised not to make any big life decisions in the state of mind I was in…. even haircuts!  But more importantly my closest friends told me to stay put and don’t do the one-way ticket thing again.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking up tickets to London, San Diego, Rwanda, Dallas, Beijing, Portland, Bangalore etc etc etc.  I guess staying put was a good call – thanks friends 🙂 

The more I had time to process, the more I realized that San Diego was still on my mind for a number of reasons:

1. I grew up there 

2. My best friend, Keri, and her family are still there (aka – my second family)

 3. My brother lives there

5. I have yet to meet Noah Hales and he’s going to be TWO this summer!!! (Brady and Laura – this is your warning: I will be visiting!)

6. I literally spend all my extra cash and vacation time being in weddings… I absolutely love it, but dream of the day I can take an actual vacation.

7. I’d be closer to all the friends I call family… well the same coast at least

8. California called, they want me back.