My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: "O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!"

23 May 2006

Ball 1, Jared 0...or Why the Last Post was an Inadvertent Lie

Sunday night I preached on The Lord's Goodness from Psalm 31. Somewhere in that sermon, I reminded God's people that He simply cannot be better to us than He already is at any single moment. Whatever happens, I said, this is God's goodness to you.

Last night, God's goodness came to me in the form of a softball to the nose. I was playing right field and ran up to catch a line drive. My glove miraculously shortened and I was left to catch the ball square on the nose. Blood ensued.

They ended up calling the 'bambalance after I passed out, so I then got my first ride in an ambulance. At the emergency room, I fainted again during my x-rays. Turns out there's a small break toward the bottom of my nose near the lip, but not bad enough to set.

And today, rather than in Pennsylvania listening to preaching, I'm at home with my family and an extremely swollen face. I thought about posting some pictures - too bad we didn't get one at the ballpark, I hear I was quite the mess - but I want you all to still like me when I'm better. For now, I'm working on jello and smoothies, since my teeth aren't functioning properly just yet. I have an appointment with an ENT this week to see how bad my face is (insert favorite pun here).

Although several have already said it, God was good to me. It could have been worse (of course, the skeptic in me wants to say it certainly could have been better, too). And I'm not in as much pain as they said I would have.

I hope your week started less eventfully than mine. I've got some book reports to post soon. See you then.

...And we lost. Bad. Alas, I think my bloodiness disheartened the team. Or made them laugh too hard to play well.

5 comments:

Alicia said...

My week started with a sprained ankle :-). It doesn't sound as bad or ugly as your injury though.

Anonymous said...

I've seen God's goodness take many forms, but never a softball. Hooray for EMT's and dentures!

Josh Gillespie said...

Elizabeth told me about what happened to you last night at study. I must say, I had a good laugh till she said you broke your nose. It's all fun and games till someone takes a line drive off the nose.

Hey, will we be able to see you guys this weekend for Hannah's baptism?

Anonymous said...

This whole thing ought to be good for at least 4 sermon illustrations . . . maybe something about blood, sacrifice, suffering, or perhaps the consequences of misjudgment (but that last one might hurt too much!) Thanks for taking one for the team. Seriously, we are thankful that God protected you from greater injury and will keep praying for your recovery. And thanks for not sending pictures! :)

Tamara said...

Oh dear! I wouldn't have survived through that. I hate the sight of blood. Some of my friends think I should join the guys for a 12:00 basketball game. All I can say is, "Are you crazy, they play like animals!" And after hearing your testimony I only have futher pause. Way to take it like a man. I too am interested in hearing the sermons that will come from this softball adventure.