Stepping Stones
So tonight I hung out with Dave Dravecky (if you don't know who this is, read about him here - I encourage you to watch the video found at the bottom of the page as well) in the context of a young married/engaged couples small group. It was a fascinating time where we simply engaged in conversation without agenda in an effort to build relationships and community - and through that community we can wrestle with the joys and struggles that come with an early season in marriage.Dave has quite a story. In discussion, I asked him this: "I can understand your story - not nearly to the extent that you have been through - but I understand. In high school I was scouted by the Indians to play ball - and shortly thereafter I blew my arm. This was before I became a Christian. I have always been haunted by the question "what if?" What if I made it? And I know the classic Sunday School answer that God has a plan - but how have you reconciled this question of "what if?" in your own story and in your relationship with Christ?"
What an answer I got. He talked about this love that he has for baseball - and how he often struggled with this in the light of being a Christian. He felt that he often had to downplay his love for baseball in the context of his relationship with Christ - because God is the most important thing in his life, he could never let his love for baseball or his dreams to become great come to fruitition - because he had to remain a humble Christian. So he gets cancer in his pitching arm, fights back, returns after 4 years, and makes it back to the game. He pitches brilliantly in his comeback game. Then five days later he is set to pitch again - international coverage capturing this amazing comeback story. He's giving all the glory to God. Shortly before the game a friend says to him, this is the platform that God has given you to proclaim His name from. In the game that night at Montreal, he threw a pitch and shattered his arm. While he was laying on the ground writhing in pain, those are the words that he kept hearing in his mind. "This is the platform that God has given you to proclaim His name from." The cancer returned to his arm, and four months later he had to have it amputated.
From this "tragedy" came a ministry to the broken, depressed, and hurting. Dave was also recently asked, "In your 14 years of speaking, how many messages would you guess that you've prepared?" Dave laughed, and answered, "One." All he has is his story - and a daily reminder of where God has taken him. He's missing his left arm.
I cannot even begin to synthesize what else he shared about. He talked about how we all have a story that God has given us - and this story has the potential to change lives. He talked about how it was hard - he did not candy coat the issue at all.
He mentioned a scene from Field of Dreams (my favorite movie). There's a small town doctor who came within an inch of his dream to play professional baseball - and came just short - and the doctor (Moonlight Graham) was not the least bit upset about it. "For somebody to come that close to their dream and miss it, some would call it a tragedy!" Moonlight responds, "No, now if I had not been a doctor, then that would have been a tragedy."
We have stories. For Dave and I, baseball was a stepping stone to a much greater endeavor - the ministry of changing lives.
A very encouraging night - and this was just one highlight amidst discussions of in-laws, engagement stories, and other stories of life.
posted by Devo @ 10:42 PM
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