3 Strikes & You're Out

I love it when people challenge me to try something out because I always end up learning something new.

When I was in college, a wise teacher asked me to give teaching Sunday School a try. I wasn't up for it, but I gave it a shot anyway. I shadowed her one day and watched her teach and she was good. The 4-5 year olds were cute and energetic before I entered the classroom, but soon they stopped looking so harmless. They had so much energy that I began to wonder if I could handle them. Then they started asking all these questions about the Bible in full cohesive sentences! These 4-5 year olds were smart! I never grew up in a Christian household, so I didn't have the simple Bible-story knowledge that they had and I felt dumber than the kids! Their teacher seemed like a true professional, and I was afraid that she had chosen the wrong man for the job. I was inexperienced.

After that first day. I literally told her that I didn't want to do it anymore. I felt incapable. The children were too smart for me. Imagine a 21 year old ivy-league student going up to someone's mom and saying, "I can't be your 5 year old kid's sunday school teacher because she's too smart for me." You may laugh at that guy - but that's how much I was lacking in my faith.

What she replied with has now become part of how I choose to live my life. "Young, it's like baseball. You get 3 strikes, and then you're out if you don't hit the ball. Give it 2 more tries and then let's discuss from there."

I have to thank her for that, because teaching these 4-5 year olds taught me so much more about God and how He works. It wasn't an easy job, but it was full of blessings and to this day, I miss them lots. As much as I was a "teacher" to them, they were also teachers to me.

I bring this topic up because at my new church, someone approached me to join choir. Now, I do not have a great voice, but she was so persistant that I didn't know how to say no. Then, I remembered the "3 strikes & you're out" talk. I had to give it a go no matter how incapable I felt.

It's kind of like when Jesus and his disciples were in a storm and they started to freak out because they were scared and incapable of saving themselves. Jesus says to them, "'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?' Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm." (Matthew 8:26). With God, it's fully possible.

Choir is a great blessing and I'm so happy that someone came out and encouraged me to give it a try. I'm not the best singer in the world, but God can still use me in this way at this time if that's how He wills it to be. It's not always about you singing the best for God, it's about God teaching you.

So next time you get the chance, go up to the home-plate and bring a bat. Have a little faith - you get 3 swings :-). You never know how much power and direction God can give you in a swing.