I will remember the St. Louis Cardinals’ rookie, Kolton Wong, for how he handled his mistake more than I will remember him for his mistake.
Have you heard of his game 4, World Series mistake in the bottom of the 9th inning? Were you aware it was on the last out of the inning? Yah, in the baseball world it doesn’t get much worse for a rookie and I hope we don’t find out there could actually be something worse.
In Wong’s moment of despair he chose to thrive through by taking the heat, admitting his blunder and answering questions. He did not play the blame game or make unending excuses. To top it off he also made an apology to Cardinal Nation.
Integrity. I hope everyone noticed.
Now I am praying for the Cardinals’ losses to be redeemed in games 6 and 7. Go Cards! We KNOW you can do this!
To read the article, view the game ending pick off and read the Twitter apology; click this link:
We’ve listened to the catchy phrases: Red October in Cardinal Nation. It is Winsday for Winwright. (Wednesday for Wainwright for you non-Cardinal fans) and we have seen pictures of Fozzie Bear wearing a Cardinals’ cap with the caption, “Wacha, Wacha, Wacha” for our rookie pitcher, Michael Wacha, who was the MVP of the National League Championship Series.
WARNING: In St. Louis, Facebook is not a place for non-baseball fans to spend the weekend of October 19, 2013 because social media has been taken over by Red October fans.
We are thrilled, we are proud and we are looking forward to watching our team of hard working, humble, best in the league; seasoned, young and rookie ball players do their thing.
I want a 2013 World Series win for them but I especially want it for Coach Matheny (1st World Series Win as coach), Adam Wainwright (because he was injured during the 2011 World Series), Matt Holliday (injured during the last World Series and was not able to play at the top of his game {plus he is from my hometown of Stillwater, OK and many of us are naturally proud of him}), Yadier Molina (best catcher ever in my opinion), Carlos Beltran (is deserving of his first Championship ring), and Michael Wacha (because I think the sports commentators have it all wrong concerning the best young pitcher in baseball. It’s not Clayton Kershaw, of the L.A. Dodgers — it’s Michael Wacha of the St. Louis Cardinals. Wacha also pitched better than Greinke). Additionally Coach Matheny, Adam Wainwright, Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina, Carlos Beltran, Matt Carpenter, Trevor Rosenthal, Jake Westbrook, David Freese, Jason Mott, Kolton Wong and Shane Robinson are many of the Cardinals known as Christ followers.
This team brings me great fun, smack in the middle of fall, and helps boost my joy level as I thrive despite some of life’s difficulties.
BTW – A.J. updated his prayer board entry: “For the Cards to beat the Dodgers” “Won! 10-18-2013”
He posted a new request tonight: “For St. Louis to win the 2013 World Series”
I have two very happy young boys in my house tonight. It is midnight and now time for them to stop watching the post game interviews and, as Colson stated when the Cards were three outs away from winning the NLCS tonight, “Yay, I want to see the whiskey fight!” A.K.A. celebrating by spraying champagne on each other in the locker room.
Good night, Cardinal Nation! You are the best baseball city with the best baseball fans of anywhere I have ever lived. {Kansas City, Denver, Houston and Atlanta}
Go Cards!
Twas the Day of Game 6
Twas the day of Game 6
And all through the town
Every citizen’s in red
For what’s about to go down
The hoodies were on
Hat’s covering their hair
October in St. Louis
Has a nip in the air
The fans were all nestled all snug in their chairs
In hopes that a pennant would soon be theirs
And I in my jersey
And also my hat
Had just settled in
Before the first at-bat
When out of Busch Stadium
There arose such a cheer
I sprang from my seat
Nearly spilling my beer
When what, to my anxious eyes should appear?
A very tall pitcher, and eight others showing no fear
His name was Wacha
Lanky and tall
He knew what to do
All he needed was the ball
He took the field
His teammates did the same
Then he whistled
And he called them by name
Now Freeser! Now Carpenter! Now Kozma and Jay!
On Beltran, On Adams, On Yadi and Holliday!”
“From the very first pitch
Until the last out
Let’s leave it all on the field
He sprang to the mound, and gave the team a wink
They took their positions, not knowing what to think
Leaving no doubt”
Then they heard him exclaim
With all of his might
“Happy Wachtober to all
We’re doing this tonight”
At this point in history, on our timeline, one way God shows proof of His existence is through individual believers. I have witnessed God beat great odds and do the impossible in my life on multiple occasions. I must pass my testimony on which is the reason why I write on this blog.
I long for the return of Jesus when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; but until then, some of the prayers of my heart are: “Allow Your word to become accessible to all people in our generation. Let me be found faithful. Empower my offspring to be found faithfully loving God and loving others. Come, Lord Jesus, come.” The wickedness I hear and read of in the news causes me to frequently ask for the return of Jesus.
I want to make God known for who He is to people in my circle of influence but most importantly I must make Him known to my children by teaching them how to have a daily relationship with Him. I can joyfully say that all of my children have asked Jesus into their hearts and proclaim Christ yet there is more for me to do. My calling as a mom is to pass my spiritual heritage on to my children which is to include the stories of God’s deliverance, protection, provision and healing in our lives through prayer and fasting. I consider this heritage rich beyond words because there is no measure for sufficiently telling about God’s great works nor is there any way to adequately describe Jesus to them. Any attempt always falls short because there is no perfect way, on this side of heaven, to convey in words the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
If my children are going to be found faithful with the life God has given them, and be found fulfilling their God-given purpose they must be comfortable praying to God, their Father. This cannot be left up to chance so I have provided ways of helping them with their prayer life and below is one of the tools we use daily.
PRAYER BOARD
I made this Prayer Board out of an old picture frame I no longer used.
Adoration, Confession Thanksgiving, Supplication
What is your heart and will in this matter, Lord? _______________ I petition this in the name of Jesus.
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25
“I believed; therefore, I have spoken.” 2 Corinthians 4:13
Box of blank paper on which to write prayer needs.
A.J. added the below request to the board tonight. The National League Championship Series now stands at Cardinals 2, Dodgers 1. Go Cards!
Praying for the St. Louis Cardinals to win the 2013 NLCS. Go Cards!
Answered Prayers:
There is relief, sometimes unexplainable, that only comes through prayer. So we pray for those we know and love and for those who ask us to pray for them.
My kids enjoy reading through the envelope of answered prayers. Colson was just doing so and noticed that most of the prayers were answered in the way for which we had prayed. He also took note of the prayers that were not answered with the healings for which we had prayed. These were almost exclusively traumatic brain injuries. Three of those were answered with complete healings in heaven. One did not have the complete healing A.J. received after his severe traumatic brain injury and another waits, after more than two months, to again be able to speak or move his body.
I do not understand God’s sovereignty regarding these T.B.I. prayer requests especially since I know there are no coincidences with God. He has for some reason brought to our attention the need to pray for several T.B.I. patients in the last year and a half.
We are thankful for the opportunity to storm the gates of heaven on behalf of others.
How I made my Prayer Board:
My nature inspired house is decorated with rustic and primitive style furniture in the colors of perpetual autumn so my goal was to make the Prayer Board blend with my other home décor.
I sanded, wiped clean and painted the frame the same pumpkin color as my wall.
After the frame dried I rubbed an old candle on the edges and in groves followed by two coats of flat black paint, allowing dry time between each application.
After drying, I used my Pampered Chef scraper to scrape off the candle wax revealing distressed pumpkin, then lightly sanded and wiped clean.
I sealed it with two coats of matte polyurethane.
I covered the original mat-board with coordinating fabric and measured where to place the twine in each direction (ribbon could be used).
I wrapped the twine all the way around the board and tied it in knots which are part of the overall presentation.
I used a hot glue gun on the back to help keep the twine in place then I stapled the twine along the edges for long lasting hold.
I cut an allergy medicine box to size then covered it with scrapbooking paper.
I folded and tore (or use scrapbooking scissors) brown paper grocery sacks into note size papers and placed them in the box for quick use when someone needs to add a prayer need to the board.
The Prayer Board hangs next to our table so every time we eat we can glance at it and pray for people and situations that we would otherwise most likely forget. This helped my, reluctant to pray child, become a ready to pray child full of confidence. We use the Prayer Board during our Bible study and prayer time in school also.
A chalk board, magnetic board, marker board or bulletin board could just as easily be used. My favorite part of writing the needs on paper is that when the prayer has been answered we write the answer and the date on the piece of paper and place it in an envelope to be kept for our future boasting in the Lord.
PROOF POSITIVE:
Create an atmosphere of prayer in your home with an easily accessible type of Prayer Board.
Date the prayer need when you place it on the board and date it when you know it has been answered. It will be your turn to brag on God!
Spiritual Battles 