Sunday the Tulsa Drillers were playing the Arkansas Travelers in a minor league baseball game in Little Rock. The Drillers, an affiliate of the Major League Colorado Rockies, experienced an on-field tragedy. First base coach Mike Coolbaugh (pictured) was hit in the head by a line drive foul ball and was killed.
Coolbaugh had played briefly in the Majors and had recently come to the Drillers as a coach. He is survived by his wife and two small children. He and his wife were expecting their third child. My sympathies and prayers are with them and their extended baseball family.
Often when I learn of a sudden and unexpected death like this I’m reminded of the scripture, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14, NIV)
Whether we get thirty-something years or eighty-something years in this world, compared to eternity it is like a mist that appears briefly and then vanishes.
Since we’re not promised tomorrow and we don’t know when our time is up, it behooves us to steward today well. Is there someone that needs to hear that you love them? Is there an act of kindness or generosity that you have felt stirred to do? Do you need to apologize and ask forgiveness from anyone? Is your connection with God what it needs to be?
God will give you grace and power to address the above matters today. I pray that you live today well.
Coolbaugh had played briefly in the Majors and had recently come to the Drillers as a coach. He is survived by his wife and two small children. He and his wife were expecting their third child. My sympathies and prayers are with them and their extended baseball family.
Often when I learn of a sudden and unexpected death like this I’m reminded of the scripture, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14, NIV)
Whether we get thirty-something years or eighty-something years in this world, compared to eternity it is like a mist that appears briefly and then vanishes.
Since we’re not promised tomorrow and we don’t know when our time is up, it behooves us to steward today well. Is there someone that needs to hear that you love them? Is there an act of kindness or generosity that you have felt stirred to do? Do you need to apologize and ask forgiveness from anyone? Is your connection with God what it needs to be?
God will give you grace and power to address the above matters today. I pray that you live today well.
2 comments:
What scares me the most about dying is what will be left undone and unsaid. Thank you for reminding me what the perspective needs to be.
Dear Friend:
Thanks for sharing your reflection.
In response to your "scares me" note, God has led me to engage in a discipline where I seek to be as responsive as I can to every prompt or stirring He brings to my heart.
If I'm stirred to tell someone I love them or to check in and see if everything is okay in our relationship, etc., I try to do that as soon as is reasonable. In other words, I try to keep an up-to-date relationship account with God and with others.
That has effectively addressed fears in my own life. I know I haven't done life perfectly but I've sought to do it "response-ably" (able to respond to God) the best I know how.
Blessings,
Scott
Post a Comment