Playing With The Big Boys...

 This was his year a he'd play "up"...

With the big boys....

He'd be smallest on team...

He'd be youngest on team...

He might, possibly, be voted..."Least likely to save the day."

However, not by those of us who know him.

Big Mike is a "practice machine"

We have all watched countless hours of catching, throwing and batting.

on the "field", on Charles Road.

The field where he is boss.

All season long....He stepped up to the plate and marched out to the field or a base with a big smile and big swagger 

Today, I was reminded that there was a reason he was drafted to play with the big boys.

It was the end of the game....
1 out...
2 needed to stop the other team.

basically, it was the last dance...
The last chance...
(sorry for your loss Summer Family.)
The opponent cracked the bat...
The ball went for a ride....high and deep....
over centerfield....
Who was out there??
The little guy who had waited all year long to catch "the one."
The Field General.
Big.
Mike.
D.

Guess what?
Practice pays off.

He not only made a superstar catch giving them one more out....
he fell catching it...jumped up and threw to 2nd for a double play. 

 

 Big Mike was instrumental in the Red Sox heading to the World Series.

 

He was carried off and lifted up by several teammates.

It was like watching Rudy's little cousin. You know, the one that played baseball instead of football and was at the Alamo Heights Little League fields instead of Notre Dame....

but other than that- just like Rudy.

Allegedly, there was a certain daddy, who was crying and jumping up and down in the dugout -Where no one could see him.

However, his little boy saw him and grinned...Mikey knew His Daddy believed in him, all along.

 When the odds are stacked against us...when life feels hard and overwhelming...when grief surrounds us...when we are going from funeral to funeral...and reception to reception...when everything is just too much...when it feels like life has dropped us on a field with the "big boys" We can rest assured, we are not alone. 

"What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~Romans 8:31,37-39

God, Thank You are cheering us on and jumping with excitement from the dugout, sometimes to the point of tears.

In His Dust,

DCC

Run Libby Run...

"I set my face like flint, confident that I’ll never regret this.
or I know that I will not be put to shame." -Isaiah 50:7

Dear God,

Thank You for Libby Bebinger.

Thank You for the showing us Yourself in her....

The way she showed us- over and over and over again...day after day after day...night after night after night...for almost 20 years. Unthinkable for most of us...who am I kidding? For ALL of us!

How NOT to quit when quitting would have been so easy.
How NOT to complain about the irritations in our lives, slow drivers, bad hair days, irritating spouses

Thank You for building her sooooo strong- and with such a keen sense of humor!
In fact, she was still able to bust my chops up until a few weeks ago.
The last thing I saw out of her, before she left her earthly body Saturday night, 
was a sly grin, in response to something funny.

Thank You for her words, barely a month ago-

 "I had one of the best days of my life yesterday. I stood in church, held up by about a dozen friends and family member. The whole congregation sang to me and prayed with me. I felt so much love and support I was in lala land for the whole day. This was just a few days after about 30 church members fasted and prayed for me for a whole day. I am so BLESSED!" -Libby
   
God, her focus on You was almost unfathomable....and something we should ALL aspire to.

We all know full well what she heard yesterday am...before the sun even rose....The Son, Who also rose, looked her in the eyes- I believe held her in His Arms- and said,  

"Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness!"-Matthew 25:21

In His Dust,

DCC

Phone call...

So, I got a message this weekend from a man that knew my grandfather.

Big deal, right?

Maybe not for some, but for me....yes.

I never knew my grandfather, he was killed in action during WWII. My mother never even met him...

so, to get a call....out of the blue...I found Divine.

I returned the call to Colonel Dwan and the first words out of my mouth were:

"I am Con Mims' granddaughter." as I burst in to tears.

He replied, in a very slow southern drawl, "Well I'll be!"

We talked for a long time...he shared his stories of growing up in Laredo, fighting in WWII, being in the cavalry.

He graduated from Harvard and married the love of his life and gone on to become a professor. Had several children, multiple grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.

He got a new Great Grandson 2 days ago, the boy was named Constantine....which is what made him think of his old friend, Con Mims, my grandfather.

This spunky 91 year old....told me he tried to find info on my grandfather on the, 

"what do ya call it? That miracle machine??"

I asked if perhaps he was talking about the internet? 

"yes, that deal....amazing thingamjig."

I asked what he remembered about my grandfather....his reply....

"Debbi, I  never had a bad word about him. Never knew anyone that didn't like him.

He was a good boy and a good man."

  

91 years is a long time to not hear a bad word about someone. 

Heck, I'd be grateful for 91 minutes!

Of course, this confirmed everything Momo had ever told me about him. 

Of course, I wanted desperately to pick up the phone and tell her about my conversation.

Of course, God reminded, me through my tears, that she already knew and was sitting with my grandfather as I was talking. 

 

"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." ~Hebrews 12:1

I am so grateful to God for those who came before me....invested so deeply in me...

and those that I have yet to meet. I am grateful that I am promised that I will meet them.

God, Thank You for surprise phone calls and blatant reminders of your Constant Presence.

In His Dust,

DCC