Kickball
Why, you might be asking would "the Pastor's wife" be writing a blog called "kickball." Well my husband, said Pastor, plays kickball. Every Wednesday night he and a bunch of his friends gather at Lunken Airport and play a 45 minute game of kickball. I don't pretend to understand. I do not have one single athletic bone in my body. Never have, probably never will. Some of my most traumatic childhood memories involve gym shorts, one kind of ball or another and some other kid yelling "Hit it, kick it, run harder, oh my god I can't believe you can't run faster than that, etc, etc, etc." I'm sure some of you are tracking with me. The rest of you were probably the ones yelling those profanities are blessed with natural hand-eye coordination and will never really understand what it's like to be chosen last for the team.
But, I digress. My husband plays Kickball. After kickball the gang all goes to a local bar and hangs out. This kickball team is made up of Christians and non-Christians alike, all friends of one person or another on the team. Other teams meet up at the same place. See, more than the game of kickball, it is this "after-party" that fascinates me. It's my husband and his closest friends hanging out with people who do not yet know Jesus. It's my husband and his friends meeting people where they are, accepting them for what they are and starting meaningful conversations. Several times over the last few weeks of this ritual of playing kickball and then hanging out at this bar my husband has had the opportunity to talk to non-Christians about his faith and about Jesus. Now, before you start thinking "oh, I get it, he does this so he can push his faith on people," let me assure you that is not what is happening. Most of the non-Christians on the team know he's a Pastor. (What's the first thing you ask someone you've just met? "So, what do you do?) He's proud of what he does, but he's just not one to wear it on his sleeve. Anyway, inevitably each Wednesday someone comes and asks him about God, Jesus, Faith, whatever. Sure, most of the time they aren't that direct; it starts with casual conversation and builds. But each night he comes home and tells me that he got to talk about meaningful, important, relevant things with real people who aren't yet Christians.
This is fascinating to me because I don't make friends easily. I'm an introvert and I guess I'm shy. And to be really honest I don't like most people, at least when I first meet them. Most people, when they first meet me, think I'm just a bitch. (And I'm sure some people think that after years of knowing me:-) So for me, to sit and talk to someone I don't know is just outrageous. I can't do it. When we go to parties where I don't know anyone, I cling to my husband. At the park with my son, I can go the whole time and never talk to one other mother. So, the fact that my husband can walk into a room full of strangers and not only make friends but end up talking about God with them, well it's just freaking cool. Of course, I'd be lying if I told you that I'm never jealous of this, I am sometimes. But, that's just not how God created me. Fortunately, it is the way He created my husband and I get to be a small part of it, even if it’s just to sit back and marvel.
Why, you might be asking would "the Pastor's wife" be writing a blog called "kickball." Well my husband, said Pastor, plays kickball. Every Wednesday night he and a bunch of his friends gather at Lunken Airport and play a 45 minute game of kickball. I don't pretend to understand. I do not have one single athletic bone in my body. Never have, probably never will. Some of my most traumatic childhood memories involve gym shorts, one kind of ball or another and some other kid yelling "Hit it, kick it, run harder, oh my god I can't believe you can't run faster than that, etc, etc, etc." I'm sure some of you are tracking with me. The rest of you were probably the ones yelling those profanities are blessed with natural hand-eye coordination and will never really understand what it's like to be chosen last for the team.
But, I digress. My husband plays Kickball. After kickball the gang all goes to a local bar and hangs out. This kickball team is made up of Christians and non-Christians alike, all friends of one person or another on the team. Other teams meet up at the same place. See, more than the game of kickball, it is this "after-party" that fascinates me. It's my husband and his closest friends hanging out with people who do not yet know Jesus. It's my husband and his friends meeting people where they are, accepting them for what they are and starting meaningful conversations. Several times over the last few weeks of this ritual of playing kickball and then hanging out at this bar my husband has had the opportunity to talk to non-Christians about his faith and about Jesus. Now, before you start thinking "oh, I get it, he does this so he can push his faith on people," let me assure you that is not what is happening. Most of the non-Christians on the team know he's a Pastor. (What's the first thing you ask someone you've just met? "So, what do you do?) He's proud of what he does, but he's just not one to wear it on his sleeve. Anyway, inevitably each Wednesday someone comes and asks him about God, Jesus, Faith, whatever. Sure, most of the time they aren't that direct; it starts with casual conversation and builds. But each night he comes home and tells me that he got to talk about meaningful, important, relevant things with real people who aren't yet Christians.
This is fascinating to me because I don't make friends easily. I'm an introvert and I guess I'm shy. And to be really honest I don't like most people, at least when I first meet them. Most people, when they first meet me, think I'm just a bitch. (And I'm sure some people think that after years of knowing me:-) So for me, to sit and talk to someone I don't know is just outrageous. I can't do it. When we go to parties where I don't know anyone, I cling to my husband. At the park with my son, I can go the whole time and never talk to one other mother. So, the fact that my husband can walk into a room full of strangers and not only make friends but end up talking about God with them, well it's just freaking cool. Of course, I'd be lying if I told you that I'm never jealous of this, I am sometimes. But, that's just not how God created me. Fortunately, it is the way He created my husband and I get to be a small part of it, even if it’s just to sit back and marvel.
posted by D'Vine Missions at 7:21 PM
5 Comments:
sounds like you're a little infatuated with me :-) Let me just say "likewise."
Let's hear more about you.
how cool, b! welcome to the blogosphere!
btw, i can totally relate to this post... i can remember a field day in elementary school where i performed so badly i cried (i didn't like not doing well at things, and sometimes i'm still tempted to avoid activities i don't think i'll excel in), and then the next thing i knew i received a ribbon for 'good sportsmanship.' i think a teacher felt sorry for me. pathetic, eh?
i'm still working through how God can use an introverted chick like me to make an impact on people's lives... but God is huge, and He can do anything He wants through me...
keep up the blogging!
Never thought you were a bitch. Honest!
I don't know about you and the pastor, but as for me and the pilot, I pull the last minute, "I DON'T WANT TO GO!!!" I'll be already and then 5 minutes before we are to leave, I freak out! Meeting people and conversations come so easily to the pilot, whereas I frequently feel like downing a bottle of pepto, which is never available at parties, so I substitute it with a glass of wine.
It's cool to read The Confession!
I can't wait to hear more confessions of a definitely not-bitchy pastor's wife. Your experience of this big adventure you two are on is a story that will touch people in the telling. However you do that, even if its not at parties or on the kickball field, is going to be amazing!
So what about inviting our neighbors to OUR house for dinner? I've been convicted that we need to reach out to our neighbors again...
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