Tatis Against the Best

So the fierce baseball rivalry between the LA Dodgers and San Diego Padres continued Thursday through Sunday. Tatis’ homer off the great Walker Buehler, the starter at the top of the Dodger rotation, about 10 days ago was only the beginning.

Over the last four days he hit two off Kershaw, two off Bauer and one off May. Kershaw and Bauer hold Cy Young awards and May appeared unhittable.

Those shots included the hardest measured ball ever hit off Kershaw in his entire career. On top of that Fernando Tatis’ first year of hitting stats place him ahead of Mickey Mantle’s stats over his first full year of play.

If anyone doubted the wisdom of his recent 14 year contract for 340 million dollars, I rest my case.

Our Two Lives

“We have two lives… the life we learn with and the life we live after that. Suffering is what brings us towards happiness.” Bernard Malamud, the late Pulitzer Prize winning novelist

So if there is a God, you say, why does he allow such suffering in the world? How can you draw close to Him and feel deep joy without the suffering life brings us?

My precious adult daughter overcame childhood cancer and my precious adult son fell off a second story roof onto concrete. Today, they are both, exquisitely well, by the grace of God.

Their suffering and, as a result, the suffering of my wife Kristine and me has brought us closer to each other. Whatever the outcome held, I never needed His comfort more than in the periods of their recovery. We were lovingly comforted. The tribulation has not weakened, but, has reinforced my trust in our sweet, sweet Lord.