My first six years of marriage were a whirlwind of bleacher seats, late suppers, and travel-sized toiletries. While my husband played professional baseball and signed autographs daily, I avoided using pens. Our plans could and did change too frequently to be written in ink.
During that time, I prayed for home runs, call-ups, and for God to protect for our family. Our faithful Lord provided. In His way.
You see, even in a land of seemingly plenty, our souls can be parched. Yet, He will not forsake us. The Good Shepherd will not abandon His sheep.
I will never forget washing my baby’s bottle in the hotel sink. We had just moved “home base” for our family for the fifth time in three months. I’d made the inaugural grocery run that accompanies every move: peanut butter, diapers, and Lysol wipes. After hauling the extra bags and a road-weary infant up six flights of stairs (the elevator was out), I was exhausted and frustrated. I turned on the radio, tuned to the local sports broadcasting station, and prepared to cheer on the Toledo Mudhens. The phone rang.
As the announcer described the competing team, my husband Wade was on the line telling me to start packing. After the game, we were being moved yet again. Another city. Another hotel. Another team. We said our goodbyes and good lucks, and the commentator went on to announce Wade Gaynor as the starting third baseman. Tears raced down my cheeks as I rinsed the bottle, and I felt the Lord drawing me into His gentle arms. I heard Him whisper to my heart. “Am I not enough?”
After being delivered from Egypt, the Israelites were led to the desert where they muttered and moaned to Moses and grumbled against God. Even still, this same wilderness was where God provided for their every need: food, protection, and more.
The Minor League Baseball lifestyle is its own sort of wilderness, as can be motherhood, empty-nesting, infertility, losing parents, losing children, or losing jobs. But where delight is dehydrated, who walks with us and provides for our needs?
He does. The Living Water. Our Joy, Hope, and Love. God Almighty will lead us through the wilderness just as He led Israel. With eyes wide open, we see how completely He fulfils our every need and the pure desires of our hearts.
When we moved to our next team, we leaned into the constants of our lives: Our Lord and our gift of marriage. It wasn’t easy—another grocery trip, another hotel with a rattling AC or broken elevator, and more professional uncertainty. While it may have been a season of our lives that I would’ve naively hoped for something different than a demotion, we ended up with front row seats watching God provide for our greatest needs through a community of fellow believers. Everywhere we went, God delivered support through faithful coaches, players, player’s wives, chaplains, and more.
Instead of grumbling the next time you experience a drought, look up. Jesus Christ’s love and compassion fall like merciful rain. And dear one, He’s more than enough.
*Feature photo by Andrea Davis on Unsplash
