JRMITCH85 Hope, Ramblings, Uncategorized

World Series Champions?

This blogging thing has worked out well for my favorite professional teams. Yesterday night, the San Francisco Giants actually won the World Series. This group of young core players with colorful nicknames like “The Freak” and “Black Beard”, surrounded by a group of veteran castoffs from other teams, was able to make it past the Braves, beat the supposedly unbeatable Roy Halladay and the Phillies, and knock around the Playoff Pitching Ace Cliff Lee to beat the Rangers to take the World Series in 5 games. Humm Baby! Go Giants!

Giants Victory Celebration

To be honest, I had almost lost hope that this was even possible, especially not this year. However, it goes to show that sometimes anything is possible. This year I got to put away all the disappointment that has come at the hands of the Dodgers and in 2002 at the hands of the Angels. This year living in LA is a little more bearable. All kidding aside, it is nice to see that the Giants finally have something to hold against Dodger fans when they start taunting me.

However, the Giants showed me that the past doesn’t have to define the future. Neither does our past define our future, greatness can be attained no matter how much failure we have encountered. God has a beautiful future for us, dive in, and don’t let your past define who you are. YOU could be a champion! Dive in.

JRMITCH85 Hope, Ramblings, Uncategorized

A Team with Two Personalities

As a Cal fan, this football season is hard to stomach.

This season has been full of ups and downs, one week we score 50, and the next week we struggle to score at all. One week the defense gives up 0 offensive touchdowns, and the next week we give up 5 to 7. (Yes I am using “we” to describe the team.) This is hard to understand. How can a team play similar competition week in and week out, and have such a radical disparity with the level of play. The list of excuses ranges from the fact that all the games they have dominated have been at home, and all the losses have been on the road, to injuries, to passion.

However, most of us have up and downs from time to time. Some days we are up to performing our best, and other days we desire to merely phone it in. (Again using the collective “we”.) However, I think it is times like this that we have to find it deep within our gut, to fight that urge to just be content with mediocre. It is that mediocre performance that maintains the status-quo. Even if we are great on some days at fighting the injustice in the world, striking out against the forces of “evil”, and bringing hope to the world, if we don’t contend with our own slipping into mediocrity, we endanger ourselves into becoming the biggest opponent to our own goals.

Therefore, each day go after greatness, even on those days when we are struck with injury, or are otherwise prone to fall into the trap of mediocrity. We can’t always control our situation, but we can control our response. Go forth and press forward bringing glory to our God Almighty.

JRMITCH85 Hope, Ramblings

Interwoven Messages

This morning, like many mornings, I was listening to Colin Cowherd, and he had Bill Walton on his show to talk about his NBA observations. Walton is a former NBA champion, the father of Luke Walton, and apparently he is also the spokesperson for Yum! Foods World Hunger Relief Project. As he was answering the host’s questions he would correlate the leadership of NBA greats to the leadership it takes in all of us to help those who are hungry. He would answer a question about how well a team worked together, with a corresponding comment about how we all need to work together as a team to help combat hunger.

His invite to the show must have been understood by all of those involved as primarily a commercial for the World Hunger Relief Project because the host did not seem to be phased by borderline ridiculous nature of Walton’s responses. I believe our awareness needs to be raised about the hunger in the world, but it seemed a little like a joke to weave this message within Walton’s answers about the state of NBA.

However, if this tactic is effective, I support it, because it is important that we give hope to those lacking even the most basic provision, and I pray that this initiative is successful in the long run.

UPDATE: Apparently, Bill Walton has been doing this all over the place. Here is a link to another site that published their transcript of their interview with the legend. http://blogs.thescore.com/tbj/2010/10/28/tbj-qa-bill-walton/

 

JRMITCH85 Hope

Hope In A New Season

With the NBA season tipping off today, I figured basketball would be a good topic. Each season starts with a some interesting questions, because each new season there are player and coaching changes, and each year starts with a number of teams vying for the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy, each with new hopes and dreams. Is this the year?

So too we enter this day, a new day, a day where we can go out and be the best. We can go out and strive after holiness; we can strive to serve and love in all we do. We don’t need a new season to start over, but each day is an opportunity to live the best life you can live. The hope should always be there for living for the glory of God.

There is a sign in the Notre Dame football locker room that each player is supposed to touch as they go out onto the field that reminds them to play like champions. The team’s record is of no consequence, because each time they go out on the field they are reminded that they go out and represent Notre Dame. Similarly, we need to remember that we represent our Creator with how we live our lives.

Each day we need to remember that we are God’s beloved; be a champion for God’s love today!