Take Me Out to the Crowd

Crowded would be the best way to describe the atmosphere today at Hammond Stadium, the Spring Training home of the Minnesota Twins. Every seat held a person and a body occupied every square foot of concrete. The blistering heat (85 in Florida = 105 in Phoenix) added a sweaty veneer. It was a faithful crowd. No one left until the 7th inning. Spring Training fans are a dedicated lot. 

McKenzie and I arrived in the second inning, which was early for us. It's been six months since I've had to dress myself and the baby and then drive, park, and get tickets. Doesn't sound like much, I know, but getting dressed for a game can sometimes be a dilemma. First, there is always the quandary over what to where- should I dress-up or dress down? Do I wear heels or flats? Do I want to have "player's wife" written all over me or not? That's a lot to figure out in 15 minutes while the baby is going through the nail polish bag trying to clip her toe nails, then squirting water all over the house with the spray bottle, after you've chased her around for 5 minutes trying to get her changed and dressed. 

The gears were a little rusty, but we got there and squeezed our way between mounds of people to go wave at Josh in the bull pen. (He's the one dead-center. It's not a great shot, but that's the best I could do from several hundred feet away between guard rails.)

We then navigated our way through the sea of sweat to our seats and slathered our arms, legs, and faces with sun screen. Why stadiums think that having every seat bake in the sun is desirable, I have yet to determine. Maybe one day I'll find the answer. 

An inning or so later, McKenzie was ready for lunch. Off we went. Squeezing, ducking, slithering between people until we finally made our way to the concession stand to wait in line. By the time we returned to section 205 with hot dog, water, and frozen lemonade in hand, it was the 5th inning. McKenzie wasn't too interested in the hot dog, but loved the lemonade.

She was a great little fan and didn't even fall apart until she tried to get down to the bull pen in the 8th inning to see her daddy. I kept praying that if it be for Josh's good and God's glory, he would get the opportunity to pitch. I guess he warmed-up once in the 7th, but they didn't end up needing him. Josh motioned for us to leave before the stampede started. 

Waves of irritation started to lap at the shore of my heart as I lugged the baby to the car while she threw an all out, back-arching fit. Exhausted, I climbed into the car, turned the air on high, and got an iced latte at Starbucks. As I headed north on I-75, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the bible study I have been doing on prayer, which included the following quote from Oswald Chambers: 

Some prayers are followed by silence because they are wrong, others because they are bigger than we can understand. Jesus stayed where He was -- a positive staying, because he loved Martha and Mary. Did they get Lazarus back? They got infinitely more; they got to know the greatest truth mortal beings ever knew -- that Jesus Christ is the Resurrection and the Life. It will be a wonderful moment when we stand before God and find that the prayers we clamored for in early days and imagined were never answered, have been answered in the most amazing way, and that God's silence has been the sign of the answer. If we always want to be able to point to something and say, "This is the way God answered my prayer," God cannot trust us yet with His silence. 

Clumps of palmetto trees flew past my window as I slurped the last of my latte. I knew in my heart that the good Lord had answered my prayer, although I knew not how. Someday I will know, but even if I never do it is enough to know that He hears and loves me.