The Desert is Hot

The past couple of weeks have been somewhat of a rough ride for Brian and I. As most of you know, he went down to Florida to tryout for the Phillies. He pitched very well, but was not offered a contract. (I'll spare you the details for now, but suffice it to say it was definitely NOT God's will for Brian to be with the Phillies). He stayed down there a few extra days and also threw for the Dodgers. They seemed far more impressed than the Phillies did, and expressed a lot of interest in Brian. But after evaluating their teams, they discovered they had no room to add another player to the roster. Then the Mainers said they wanted to see him pitch too, but have never called to follow up. So we're back at square one . . . frustrated that we're still stuck in Charlotte when spring training has already started, and we have no job for the upcoming season. We go back and forth: should Brian keep playing, should he not, is God telling us it's time to do something else, is he not? We have no idea.

Because Brian pitched so well during both of his tryouts (and the Dodgers were so encouraging and complimentary), it makes it hard for him to say, "well, I'm just not good enough, maybe I should try a different career." And so we're at a point where we believe he is good enough, but the opportunities are not there. So is God calling us to wait in faith for an opportunity, or take the hint and move on to a different career? I lean towards the waiting in faith, but I'm still not sure it's the right decision. And it's hard. Waiting is hard. Having faith is hard too sometimes. Over the past two weeks I've experienced humility, frustration, confusion, and disappointment like never before. And while I have no idea what God is doing with our lives, I'm certain that He is using the journey to sanctify us. I am confident that at some point I will truly be thankful, and appreciate God taking us through this hard time. It is forcing/teaching me to trust Him, depend on Him, and have faith in Him. But for now, the desert is hot, and I'm hoping there's an oasis in sight soon - just feeling like I need a little break for water if you know what I mean.