sustain

So I am laying in bed last night and I was praying on Matthew who passed away recently. He was a 7 year old amazing child who was fighting cancer and I prayed that his “arrival” into heaven was met with lots of loving amazing people and my grandparents and friends we also there to take him in.

For some reason, it made me think of dodgeball when I was a kid. I was actually really good at dodgeball so I rarely got hit but when I did I remember walking out of the game and being met by teachers and friends who were there with smiling faces and they would pat you on the back for playing your heart out and you would sit out and watch the rest of the game take place.

Then I thought…

What if LIFE on earth is like a hardcore dodgeball match where your just getting everything thrown at you and your objective gives you a few options. Get hit, get out and watch the rest of the players go for the win. Dodge, bob and weave everything thats being thrown at you, pick it up and throw it back, or just stand there and get out without even trying.

What if LIFE in heaven is like the invisible “side line” where once your out, your greeted by all your passed friends and relatives and new friends who welcome you up with a box of popcorn, soda or beer of your choice and you get to sit down and watch the rest of the world play while cheering them on.

What if we knew you were up there cheering us on from the sidelines. We couldn’t hear you, we couldn’t see you but we could feel you in our hearts and every now and then when a “miracle” happened we just kinda knew it was you putting a little extra help on that cheer =)

I woke up this morning and one of the first things I read was from an old friend who posted on his facebook that he would be going back to living on the streets and he was grateful for the friends and family who put up with him. I thought about him and I thought about some people in my life who recently just passed away… Matthew, David and then I thought about all the people who affected me with their passing over the years… Alika, Darwin, Brandon, Todd, my grandparents, and a handful of others.

It made me smile because it boils down to this one thing. WE ARE STILL IN THE GAME.

Regardless of where we are at emotionally or financially, whether were on the street or in a multimillion dollar home. Life can throw a ball at you that changes your situation immediately. One minute your in, one minute your out. The only difference with Dodgeball is that after about 5 minutes you get to get back in. With life, once your out, your out for good.

Never forget that no matter where you are in life, you are sustained. I am going to leave with the opening lyrics of a song I wrote last year and havent recorded yet but I think of these lyrics every time I am in a rough spot.

“I am sustained, I shall not want the things, that only complicate me, I am sustained and I am getting stronger, I wont walk away, i promise to remain, in faith thats never fleeting, i promise to remain unchanged”

I hope those words impact you on a deeper level then just words in a wordpress blog. Your still in the game, so get out there and let whatever is hitting you or about to hit you, change you and make you stronger.

When it is time to give your body back to the earth, make sure you can do that with peace and make sure you never have regrets about how hard you played while you were in the game. You are sustained.