Day 23

Our day was rather awesome down here in Iowa. The people here are very nice and our experience this morning was unlike anything I have ever been apart of with my baseball team. We were welcomed to breakfast at the local church and then we took part in a small group bible study which was discussion of Francis Chan's, Crazy Love. Just being able to sit in a group discussion with some of the guys and share a little about what God is doing with a random group of strangers was a great experience and it showed me that God is teaching me stuff that I can use when I meet new people. After our small group, we sat in on the beginning of the service and the sanctuary was beautiful. There were tons of different colors, stained glass windows, red velvet pews, a pulpit, and the carpet matched the pews. I have not been in a similar formal church since I left San Diego in 2003. I absolutely love the feel of a church like that and I hope to find one similar (maybe a little bigger) as soon as I graduate from college. The town we are playing in has some great history in regards to baseball as well. We played on a field that has been used for baseball for over 100 years. It was a real treat to play on a field with so much history and to just realize that this was the basis for baseball in Iowa and it was the men and women who lived here that made it possible. Additionally, some of the people from the church and those who run the field, were able to fix up the field in just a little over an hour and a half. When everything looked grim, God provided the necessary tools and supplies and He gave them the knowledge and experience to make the field playable for us and I thank them as well as God for that.

At the Bible study today, someone said their favorite verse from the chapter of crazy love was found in Revelation 3:1-2 which states, "These are the words of him who holds the seven sprits of God and the seven stars. I know you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God." I thought these were an awesome two verses and relate to me perfectly right now. People always see me as being the good kid who hardly ever gets into trouble and the one who is keeping others out of trouble, the truth is that I have struggled quite a bit and I have been spiritually dead for quite some time now. Just recently, I was put in a situation where I had to firm up some areas that were about to fall apart otherwise they would die too and I have no clue where I would be at that point. I was definitely headed down the road of destruction and then the grace of Christ came and rescued me and now I am making the choice to completely turn things around. Revelation 3:3 states, "Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know what time I will come to you." At this point I am not scared of the rapture, four weeks ago would have been a completely different story and I would be struggling to stay afloat. God has been so generous and He is lining me up with people who will help me succeed through what could have been some of my darkest days. It is still an awfully long road but I know that I have people looking out for me now that will not allow me to get snatched up again. I am ready for my reputation of being alive to finally be shown and God glorified because of it. Think about how you might be dead though you or others may think you are alive. Find an area to strengthen before it dies so that you can combat the attacks of Satan.

I would like to thank all of you for reading, God will continue to reward you for investing time into me and the things I am passionate about. Please continue to pray for me as I have a long road ahead with my wrist, the season, and school. I will keep all of you in my prayers and I hope you all had a good day.

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson