Yesterday my wife Diane, our son Adam, and I went to Baltimore to see the Orioles play the Yankees. It was an afternoon game. It was scoreless at the end of nine innings and quite a few Orioles fans left. In the ‘top’ of the 11th the Yankees hit a home run to take a 1-0 lead. Even though the Orioles were going to take their turn to bat in the ‘bottom’ of the 11th, several more Orioles fans filed out of the park after the Yankees home run. They (as did I and most of those in attendance, I’m sure) assumed the game would end at 1-0 – Yankees. But in the bottom of the 11th with two outs and the bases loaded, a pinch hitter doubled into right field and two runs scored. The Orioles players poured out of the dugout as the game winning run crossed the plate.
Last night we got home from Baltimore and found out that Frankfort HS and Robert C Byrd HS were tied at 14 in their football game. Adam and I briskly walked up the hill to the field and got there just in time to see the coin flip for overtime. We watched both teams score and kick their extra point in the first overtime. In the second overtime Frankfort intercepted an RCB third down pass and then on offense Gage Shaffer (a 2015 U of Maryland QB commit) threw his second touchdown pass of overtime to win the game against the #3 ranked AA team in the state. For the second time yesterday we witnessed a bench spill onto the field with the last minute victory.
I almost didn’t go up the hill to watch the end of the Frankfort game last night. We had been gone from home for over 12 hours and I was ready to call it a day when we got back to Short Gap. I’m so glad I didn’t miss that. It was a game they’ll be talking about in this end of Mineral County as long as they live. It was an OT that seemed to validate Coach Randy Edsall’s offer to Gage Shaffer. It was a legendary game. And to think I could have been in my house a short walk from the field and missed it. (I blogged about not missing Coney Island, NY here).
I understand it was only football and baseball games yesterday. But this could be a parable about living life. God gives us so many opportunities to experience Him and glorify Jesus and we often miss them. We’re afraid or unsure. We believe we don’t have the ability. We don’t have the money. We don’t have the time. We don’t have the energy. And we miss out. And we often don’t even realize it until it’s too late.
Don’t miss out on your faith journey. Don’t miss out on your life.
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