Playing Catch

Do you ever have one of those days that you just wish you could fast forward, be done with, go back to bed and restart with a new day? I know many of you have because you tell me about them, but if you haven’t had one of those day, please tell us your secret!! I am thankful these kinds of days don’t happen often because when they do they hit me hard. I had one of these days yesterday. I want to share with you what I learned from it and how God ultimately ended up using it for good in a surprising way. I hope this offers encouragement for you today in whatever you are working through.

So here is my list…I woke up late, missed my workout, missed my morning quiet time, got to work later than I wanted to and if I can be really honest with you, as soon as I drove up to the office and parked the car I wanted to put it in reverse, drive home and be closed for the day. But I didn’t and instead came in, got to serving, and poured out as much love and support as I could muster.

At lunch, I still felt like I was in a funk. I called Lauren and told her what was going on. My sweet wife – she prayed for me and offered up encouragement. I was having trouble shaking my mindset so she said, “Well, maybe you just need to hit something.” I laughed and thought since I clearly wasn’t going to hit a wall, I just need to go to a batting cage and hit a baseball to blow off some steam. I couldn’t practically do it though since I was opening up for my afternoon hours. So I took a deep breath in and out and got out of the car.

As I was walking in to Atlas, God gave me a vision and idea of just throwing a ball with someone. I thought, well yeah, that would be fun. I just need to play catch – get my glove and baseball and toss it with someone. Being a former baseball player, there is something very relaxing and rewarding in that. However, I figured that’s not going to happen the way I envisioned because I didn’t have a glove or ball with me, and I have work to do. The funk continued.

Just fifteen minutes later, God provided in an extraordinary way. My mother-in-law and my oldest nephew showed up for adjustments unexpectedly. We chatted back and forth and as they were getting ready to leave, my nephew said, “Hey uncle Evan, will you play catch with me?” He had the little basketball we are using for our March Madness event in his hand and was ready to throw it with me. I said sure and we threw it back and forth for a couple of minutes. They went on their way, I went back to the adjusting room to serve patients and the weight of the funk lifted. It was like my whole system reset. It was not what I expected or how I expected it to happen, but God provided my sweet nephew to play catch with me. It was also the first time he has ever asked to throw with me before. It was all God!

So my prayer for you today is that you keep your eyes, heart and hands open for what He can do through you and through others in your life. It’s amazing to see and you don’t want to miss it!

God bless!

Dr. Evan