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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Work (07/27/06)
One afternoon my son and I were playing baseball together and he asked me if I would hit him some fly balls. I said sure and grabbed twelve baseballs and a bat and went to home plate as my son went to the outfield. I hit all the baseballs to him, and when I was done I saw my son on the ground crying and throwing a temper tantrum. I thought something was wrong and ran to him and asked him, “What is the matter son”, and he said, “Dad I don’t want to play anymore because I can’t catch anything.” Son I said, “You caught six baseballs,” and he said, “No I didn’t, I only caught three.” I took a deep breath and said to the Lord in my mind, HELP ME
I began telling my son about each baseball he had caught, one by one, until I had gotten to the sixth one. I shared with him how great of a job he had done in catching the six baseballs, because out of the twelve baseballs I had hit to him, only nine of them were catchable. I told him how proud I was of him, not because he caught six baseballs, but because he tried his best on all of them. After sharing this with him he hugged me and asked me if I would hit him some more baseballs, because he realized he had done pretty good after all.
This is a perfect example of how we are in our daily walk with the Lord. We focus so much on our efforts and become to hard on ourselves. We expect to much, to quickly. We expect perfection. We expect to be able to walk in the ways of the Lord immediately. But when we ask the Lord to save us, it is only the beginning steps for deliverance in our lives.
II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be IN Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are BECOME new.
All God expects from us every day is obedience, and He certainly doesn’t expect us to get it overnight. You have the POWER of GOD inside of you, but you still have to learn how to use it. (BECOME NEW) IT’S A PROCESS THAT TAKES TIME, CONSISTENCY, AND PRACTICE
I’ll show you what I mean and I’ll use my son again as an example. I gathered up the baseballs again and hit them to him. He caught six baseballs again but this time there were actually eleven that were catch-able. I looked at my son and his reaction was totally different. Instead of falling to the ground and throwing a temper tantrum, he was smiling and saying, “Hit me some more dad.”
You see, the last time my son was so busy being hard on himself for missing the baseballs that he didn’t hear me hollering to him, “GOOD JOB SON, YOU’RE DOING GREAT ” This time he put his focus on me, instead of himself, and heard me telling him how great of a job he was doing. What’s really amazing about this whole story is the fact that my son actually did worse this time than he did the first time. But the key was he wasn’t focused on himself.
When you FOCUS on God you will always hear Him saying, “GOOD JOB SON, YOU’RE DOING GREAT.” God encourages and lifts us up in our daily walk with Him. He doesn’t beat us down and make us feel weak and worthless.
So remember, if your struggling, don’t throw a temper tantrum and quit. Stop, and listen for the Lord, instead of yourself. Like I said, it will be easy to know which voice is which. God’s voice will be the One saying “GOOD JOB MY SON YOU’RE DOING GREAT.” Instead of being hard on yourself when you miss the ball, pick up your glove, brush yourself off, and put your focus on the Lord. Keep practicing, because the only difference between an amateur and a professional is PRACTICE, and one day you will be Christ-like, and PERFECT.
I Peter 5:10-11 “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 11 To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
I do separate into paragraphs, but when I paste it, it changes. Any suggestions?
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Marilyn Schnepp 
08/04/06
Just as your Title goes...so goes your writing. First, you need to break up your story into paragraphs, with space between each one. Writers write for readers to read and enjoy - thus you need to make it as Reader friendly as possible... to accomodate them. In time, after practice, it will become perfect...Guaranteed! Keep up the good work.
Marilyn Schnepp 
08/04/06
PS: Sorry, I didn't finish this or I would have seen your "asking for help on this subject". I don't understand why the pasting would change your paragraphing. Perhaps a more technical person can help you...I know I had problems learning how to paste...but at last I learned. Good Luck.
Tracey Jackson
08/06/06
You have the ideas for a good message here.

With regards to your spacing, try putting in the breaks AFTER you've pasted... I've found that works best for me and the preview facility is really useful so you can flick back and forth to check that you are happy with it. Hope that helps.

Your punctuation and dialogue needs a little work.
If you don't use "said" so often the dialogue will flow more smoothly. I think one of your paragraphs should read something like this...

I thought something was wrong and ran to him and asked him,

“What is the matter, son?”

“Dad, I don’t want to play anymore because I can’t catch anything.”

"Son," I said, “You caught six baseballs.”

“No I didn’t. I only caught three.”

***
After all that, I hope all that spacing comes out OK!! Anyway, I hope that helps you a little. Best of luck.
Virginia Gorg
08/08/06
Agree with comments. Cute story that needs some work. Re: the pasting - not sure what you are using to type in - perhaps it just doesn't translate well. :)
D. Phenes
08/15/06
Yes, Dean pasting messes up the spacing on your words. I always go back and edit it. It does not always look the exact way I want it, but it does not bunch it all up. hope that helps.
Edy T Johnson
08/15/06
I really appreciate your message, here, in spite of the technical problems. You obviously have a ministry of encouragement, which is a drink of living water to a world parched and thirsty. Thank you for this good news today!