Unknown and some known sports heros

Everybody that knows me knows that i am big Denver Broncos fan but more important a huge John Elway fan. But it wasn't until an article written by Rick Reilly a few months ago that sealed the deal for me. It was a story about one of Rick's wife half brother, Lil Bob, and his son Jake. Lil Bob promised to take Jake to a Broncos, but never got the chance because this past March his liver failed. Jake took it hard and was struggling with every aspect that life offered. One of Lil Bob's friends bought tickets to a Denver game and they called up Rick Reilly, who lives in Denver, and took him to John Elways restaurant. Rick introduced them to John and Jake just froze. Elway then invited them up to his box for the game later that day and Jake couldn't leave his heroes side. Later into the day Jake called up his mom and started crying, which he hadn't done since his dad passed, and since that day started getting his act together and becoming the 13 year old he was before.

Or even people like Lyman Bostock, who was an up and coming star outfielder for the California Angels. He just recently signed a big contract at that time, 1977, and had a rough month where he batted around.150 and decided to give his monthly salary to charity stating " I just can't make that kind of money and not produce." It might sound like a cheesy pr stunt, but not with Lyman. I don't know if I've heard of many big name athletes doing that, just imagine A-Rod giving away his monthly salary, it might be enough to feed a couple of small countries.

Albert Pujols one of the most feared hitters in the game of baseball that ever played the game, and that is not just my thought, but everybody who knows a thing about baseball thinks the same way. He was recently stated in a Sports Illustrated article, " I don't want to be remembered as the best baseball player ever. I want to be remembered as a great guy who loved the Lord, loved to serve the community, and who gave back. That's the guy I want to be remembered as when I'm done wearing this uniform. That's from the bottom of my heart." Every year, Albert is the chairman for this charity called Buddy Walk, a charity for children who have downs syndrome. And almost every year a kid will ask him to hit a home run for them. In 2002, a 10 year old threw out the first pitch and when Albert handed the signed ball back to her, she requested a home run and he did in the first inning. Almost every year since then on the game after the Buddy Walk, Albert hits not just one, but on a couple of times, multiple home runs for the kids.

Warrick Dunn is an NFL running back who in 1993 lost his mother who was shot by gunmen robbing the Piggly Wiggly she went into to cash her paycheck. He helped raise his siblings while he was a star running back for the Florida State Seminoles. Here recently he came out with a book that tells of how he went to confront the accused man of shooting his mother and also facing his demons about the situation. If you just google his name, countless articles come out on how he buys houses and helps provide futures for down and out single mother families.

I know there are several other stories out there about athletes doing this type of stuff, but these are the one's that stand out to me. Roberto Clemente is one of the greatest and saddest stories like this. He was one of the greatest outfielders of his generation and is still considered to be one of the best to play the game. He was on a plane to Nicaragua to deliver aid to earthquake victims when his plane failed and crashed. His body was never recovered. He was known throughout the league to giving back to kids in Peurto Rico and other Latin countries. He remains a hero to me for his work off the field. I love hearing and following stories like these. To me, they separate the true athletes from the ones that just go out there and play. They use their name for the good of their sports and are role models to the younger generation.

Me, God, and Politics

I know I haven't written in a long time and I know that I need to be more consistent about this, I'm trying to get my buddy Jonathan to post this on his web page but he told me I needed to write more. I guess it is because I feel like I don't have good stuff to write about and that i think about what i want to write about way to much. so here is what has been on my mind over the last few weeks. I hope to get a few more people to read this and comment on it.

Ever since I became eligible to vote I guess I have been trying to get caught up and have been getting a little more clearer understanding of our twp party system and what both them bring to to the table. I grew up in small town America all my life and a little out of the loop until i figured out what the internet was and how to use it, which for me growing up in small town Arkansas, was around my junior year in high school. I knew who the president was and since he was a Democrat, that we didn't like him, but i didn't know why we didn't like him. i was too busy playing football or baseball to worry about that type of stuff. then i started taking some of my social work classes in college and started to get a little more perspective of what was happening during my high school years.and to be honest with you, I agreed with some of the things that took place while the democrats had the office those years. I couldn't ever say this to my parents or relatives because i might be shunned from family reunions and stuff. I grew up in a very republican house with grandparents to this day still have the television set on Fox News 24/7 in there house, so my political status was already set up for me.

i have never been the one to get all riled up about politics. Don't get me wrong, there are things that i care deeply about that politics are involved in such as the social injustice and poverty. I have chosen a career path where these things affect my work. i have had co-workers that were homosexual and have known friends beginning in the 8th grade that have had an abortion. i have had people all my life tell me it is all bout their choices and that they aren't living the life that was set up fro them. But we have choices to and most of the time, we chose to not do anything about it and just sit there and continue to criticize other peoples lives and forget about what was going on in ours that was keeping us from making a difference in their lives. i view the big news networks and bullies, who pick on the weak that and heavy laden instead of being encouraging and supportive of one another.

i could express my political issues and what i feel our society should do. but i am more concerned about being a better stronger Christian and follower of Christ then to worry about if i am a democrat or republican. I don't want to be remembered for my political standpoint but by my acts. and i can't help out but realize from experience and conversation that the one thing should be an answer to this isn't. Church. Church was meant to be a safe place for the downtrodden and the underprivileged, but over the times it has been a place where it has become their lost hope. why bother having a pantry if they are going to make anyone who comes in asking for it feel even worse about themselves then when they walked in. i thought Jesus taught about this in the Beatitudes or was that just supposed to be referring to those times and not today. Last time i checked, the resurrection hasn't happened it and that we are to go about living in anticipation and living His words. I haven't been the best about doing this, but i am trying and the Church that i belong to has helped gain a little visual of what that looks like. They have adopted a rundown and poverty stricken elementary school and has spent weekends making repairs on it and we aren't talking about hiring people to do it, members have given up their weekends to do so. i have never been part of a church, or a group of fellow believers, that have done service projects whole heartedly and enjoyed it.

I hope I am not bashing on any democrats or republicans that may read this, that is not my intention. I know politics play a huge role in or society and that it is hard to not get involved, but i have more important things to worry about. some of my beliefs can be viewed as democratic or republican, but I view them as having the Christian point of view and doing my best to continue that. God is my judge and i am doing my best to get a life sentence when i am up for trial.

Why I love Mondays

So yes it is true I love Mondays. I know that for everyone else out there Monday represents the start of another work week and that they can't wait till Friday gets here. But I love Mondays for a couple of reasons. The first one being that I get to rub it in to everyone of my freinds who have to wake up and go to work early while I get to sleep in and do nothing but relax and enjoy the day or just sleep in till the early afternoon.
But another reason and probably why I love Mondays the most is a thing that I get to be a part off every Monday night called School by the Pool. It is a one hour tutoring / bible lesson and games all wrapped up in one. Me a a few very special and warm hearted people dedicate our time every week for the kids in my apartment complex in Hurst. They are really great kids and can get a little out of control at times, but they love listening to the Bible stories and playing games. I love it because I consider myself a kid in an adults body. There have been times when we wouldn't have a lot of kids or when we have some of our most dedicated kids move away, that it just made me wonder if what we were doing is having an impact with the kids. But then there are times when those kids come back, even though they moved, and become the role models for the smaller kids.
I love Mondays for the fellowship of my fellow volunteers who some of the biggest hearts that I can think of. They truly care for these kids and they want to be there for these kids. Recently we had a couple of the kids, a brother and sister, who were having a hard time at the game we were playing and they came up and started talking to one of the volunteers. Later on when all the kids have left and we were cleaning up in the building, the volunteer told us about the conversation. You could just feel the compassion and the care that was felt in her voice. And then we all gathered around and prayed about the two kids and their family. You could truly feel the presence of God in that small building with five of His believers pouring themselves out for the kids of Hurst Gardens. It is an amazing experience and I am blessed with this opportunity to being able to reach out and help the kids in need.

Oh Yeah, did I mention that I Love Mondays.

Ballpark food.

Well, its coming around, my favorite sports season. Baseball. And what would baseball season be like without the food and the promotions that are handed out. I've been to maybe five different MLB ballparks and just love the variety of food. When I go the Rangers games I try my best to get a smoked turkey leg, nothing says baseball like a smoked turkey leg.

But this one beats out everything. So I recently ran across this story about the burger on the right. It is going to be sold at the West Michigan Whitecaps ballpark this coming season. Look at it, I don't think I will even try to eat that. Here is a list of what is in it, 5 hamburger patties, nearly a cup of chili and loaded with salsa and chips on a sesame seed bun. It all adds up to a measly 4,800 calories per burger. The ballpark is offering a free t-shirt wo anyone that eats the whole thing during the game. Really, I would offer to pay for the hospital bill or least throw in a couple bottles of mlylanta or something. They could possibly even do what the Grand Prairie Airhogs did last year and have a raffle for a free funeral.

A lot of the times the ballpark will have food that is popular in that area, like the turkey leg in Texas. In Colorado they have Rocky Mountain oysters, Seattle has grilled salmon sandwiches, Houston has the BBQ stuffed potato, Pittsburgh has the Primanti Bros. sandwich, and San Diego has the Rubio's fish tacos.

I just can't wait till baseball season hits back up, I might even get a couple of all you can seats at the Ballpark in Arlington. It really wouldn't be a game without the food, at least in my view. So I plan on watching a few games and eating a few turkey legs and then downing a few bottles of Pepto.

Trying to get back into this.

Sorry I haven't been posting lately, my friend Jonathan also known as J - boy has been busy as of late and we haven't been able to do any more backyard blogs.
Here is what has happened to me over the months or as far as I can remember. I have recently joined a city wide flag football team with some guys from the children's home and some guys from outside my work. We may not be the most athletic team out there, but we are the very interesting to watch. i've been switched around to three different positions since we started five weeks ago. I started out blocking then moved to an inside receiver and then lastly center. In the second week we had our other center get a concussion, of all my years playing high school football and intramural and club in college, I've never had an ambulance carry someone off the field till now. So I played center last week and snapped the ball over the QB's head twice in five snaps and the guy is 6' 3. I didn't last to long there. Then we have a cornerback who thinks he is a lot better then he is and always talks trash to the other receivers even when he gets beat five times in a row. Me and another teammate bet on who he is going to get in a fight with before each game, I won the last two weeks. We have had our last three games get called ten or so minutes early because of the hostility building up between the teams.
My NFL team, the Denver Broncos, have recently fired the best coach the organization has ever had and hired an idiot from New England, sorry if you are from the New England area. Josh McDaniels has pissed me off so many times in the last three months. He tried to trade Pro Bowl QB Jay Cutler to get the luckiest kid in the league last year Matt Cassel. I love Jay Cutler, not just that he is a Pro Bowler, but because he is playing with diabetes. My dad has diabetes so I know some of the stuff that Jay is playing with. He is a new kind of role model. McDaniels is bringing an unexpereienced coaching staff and getting rid of the guys that have made the program and force to reckon with over the last ten years or so, except this year's four week season ending pukefest. I will always cheer for the Broncos, but I'm not going to cheer for McDaniels.
I am going to try to do this about once a week or so starting today, don't mark it down. But I need to get back into this and share my mind however dumb it might be.

Lately, job and stuff

Sorry I for my many adring readers out there( all three of you), that I have'nt posted anything for a while. I have been very busy at work and trying to figure out where I am going to live in August. My roommate is moving back to Nashville and I have to find a place to live for the next few months. So I apoligize for that.
Some interesting things have been happening in my life recently and it is hard for me to expalin them because I can't. Well, it was mainly just three things. I work as a recreational director at a children's home in downtown Ft. Worth, and there has recently been some open positions availble here that would have solved my problem that I stated earlier. It was a single live - in houseparent where everything was paid for like housing, food, utilties, and even transportation while I was on shift, which is four days on and three days off. So, it was a sweet deal right. The day I was supposed to have the interview for the position, I turned it down. I called up the supervisor and told him that I didn't want it. I can't explain it, but something told me not to go through with it and to stick with my other position. I don't know if it was God tellling me not to do it or what, but I can't come up with any other explainations for it. I was telling this to one of my best friends the other night at Taco Bueno, the best food ever, and I was telling him that I think I would miss the kids I work with now, and that I think that I was meant to be here with them because so many people haven't been there for them in the past. And these kids are very hard to love, but it is something that just comes natural to me. I would still do stuff with them at the other position, just not all the time. I mean, I was pumped and excited about the possibility of interviewing for it all weekend long, but Tuesday morning I woke up with the thought that I wasn't supposed to be there. I know God speaks to us still and uses us everyday, but this hasn't really happened to me in a while.
It doesn't stop there either. I was finally able to go to the young singles worship get together that same night. And I will admitt, there have been times in the past when i only went to check out the single girls and stuff, but not this time.It was really nice to go and not worry about who to talk to and what I looked like and to just worship God. The singing and the lesson were amazing and it was probably the best one that I have been to personally. Again I just felt like I needed to be there.
One more thing, sorry about all this, I know this long but I have to write this last thing because I haven't told anybody about this last part at all. I have a very good friend from college who grew up in Scotland. We still keep in touch every now and then through facebook and e-mail, but we haven't talked in a few months. Him and his wife are currently studying to be missionaries in Scotland in two or three years and he mentioned it to me whenever we last talked and I judt kinda blew it off a little. Well, are you ready for this. Again, I can't really expain why i did this but it happened. I sent him an e-mail saying that I was aboard and that I wanted to be part of their team whenever they go to Scotland. I know that was a huge decision but something was telling me that I needed to do it. I don't know much about Scotland or even how acceptable it is to Christianity, but I don't care, I know that I will be taken care of. I am not making this up, all these things were completly random and believe it or not all happened in one day, July 1st.
I know that God speaks to His people all the time in many ways, I just never really thought that that could be the reason for all this until now. I need to be more trusting and let God use me the way he wants to use me. I don't know if this is God's purpose for me but I am willing to accept it and continue living for Him.

Bag Yard Blog #2 "Call it Confession, that's good"

Authors Note: Once again we are sitting down on my (Jonathan's) back porch. Brad is relaying to me his profound thoughts...or something like that. 

So you know, here the last week or two I have been studying and journaling more. I've been reading Philippians. It's always the book I go to when I'm feeling down. The book is filled with so much inspiration. You know Philippians 4:13 "I can do anything through Christ who gives me strength" 

I have also been reading this book called the Ragamuffin Gospel (which is a great book, have you read it?) Brennan Manning talks about that verse, Philippians 3:13 (do you know Philippians 3:13 Jonathan? Well in Philippians 3:13 it says I forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead). That's a huge thought for me, it's key for me, to forget about what I have done in the past and keep moving forward. (are you writing this? Because you don't seem to be writing that fast). 

One of the phrases that I use the most with the at-risk kids that I work with is "keep moving forward." It is so easy for them to get bogged down. 

Anyway, I realized that's what we have to do when we come to God for forgiveness. Lay it all out there, and then move forward (looks off for a while, mentions something about baseball).

Because our God is a God of grace and forgiveness. And a God of 2nd chances. 

I just got done talking to one of my best married couple friends (I said one of them, Jonathan, not the best married friends). Anyway I just got done talking to them about what I have been struggling with for the last few years, and at first I was nervous, but now I realize that it was probably one of the best things I could have done. 

They encouraged me (Junebug flew on me/Jonathan, then I freaked out....pause to kill Junebug) they prayed for me, and even though their baby spit up all over my shirt (did you put the even though the baby spit up on my shirt part? Oh, you are going to write that down to aren't you?) that was still something I was afraid to do, but something I should have done along time ago.

Because I am not in this battle alone. 

I am surrounded in this area, by friends and loved ones, to who I have been too afraid to talk to, even the one writing this (wait do you think that's going to be too confusing? Will they know I am talking about you? Did you write the warning at the top again?)

So I hope that you get something out of this, for those of you who read this (probably all of about 5 people, I quit telling people about this blog by the way). So if you are struggling with something...I hope you are able to tell somebody. And do it quick. Before it gets worse, because that is what happened to me.