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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
"God's Precious Collectibles"
July 7, 2010
God loves you! You want to know how I know that? It says so in the
Bible. If you don't believe me, then come and see my autographed baseball.
No it's not from God. The ball says, "To Cal, a great Tigers fan. Travis
Fryman." The writing on the ball confirmed the truth for me that God loves
you and me because we are who we are. Let me explain.
On Tuesday night C J Knudsen of the Connecticut Tigers handed me the
ball and I felt like a ten year old kid again. I looked at it and knew I was
holding something more precious than gold. It was a ball with a personal
message from one of my favorite Detroit Tiger players of all time. Travis
Fryman played with the Tigers from 1990 - 1997 and was a four time all
star. He averaged 21 homers and 98 RBI as a Tiger and the day he was
traded to the Cleveland Indians I cried.
Today Travis is managing the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the New
York-Penn League. He was in town because his team was up at Dodd
Stadium playing our Connecticut Tigers for a three game series. That's why
I brought my ball to the park. The ball was a gift from the Norwich Rotary
Club as I closed out my year as the President back in 1999. It had Fryman's
signature on it and I proudly added it to the display I have in my office at
church the one everyone calls "The Shrine." For the last eleven years it sat
there among my most valuable possessions. On Tuesday Travis
personalized it for me.
Some people collect memorabilia with an eye on what things are worth but
that isn't how I place value on things. Almost every bit of memorabilia I
have has a story to it. Some things are personalized. Other objects were
gifts. That's what makes them valuable to me. Someone once told me that
the baseball card I have that is signed by Mark "The Bird" Fidrych isn't
worth anything because "To Cal" is written on it. I told them that it may be
true to a card shop owner but to me it was priceless. It was one of a kind.
The truth is that you and I are one of kind too. God created us that way.
Each and every one of us were known by God even before we were
conceived in the womb. God had called us by name and set us apart with a
purpose in life. In Psalm 139 David says: For you created me in my
mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made... All
the days were ordained for me were written in your book before one of
them came to be..." That means that you and I have God's signature on us.
That makes us priceless.
We were personalized before we even knew the light of day. It is not how
smart we are or how good looking we may be that determines our value to
God. It isn't how much money we have or how much education we have
that makes God love us. He loves us simply because we belong to him and
his name is on our hearts. So it doesn't matter what the rest of the world
says about us. We are precious collectibles to God.
God bless. See you in church or maybe up at the ball park. Cal.
July 7, 2010
God loves you! You want to know how I know that? It says so in the
Bible. If you don't believe me, then come and see my autographed baseball.
No it's not from God. The ball says, "To Cal, a great Tigers fan. Travis
Fryman." The writing on the ball confirmed the truth for me that God loves
you and me because we are who we are. Let me explain.
On Tuesday night C J Knudsen of the Connecticut Tigers handed me the
ball and I felt like a ten year old kid again. I looked at it and knew I was
holding something more precious than gold. It was a ball with a personal
message from one of my favorite Detroit Tiger players of all time. Travis
Fryman played with the Tigers from 1990 - 1997 and was a four time all
star. He averaged 21 homers and 98 RBI as a Tiger and the day he was
traded to the Cleveland Indians I cried.
Today Travis is managing the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the New
York-Penn League. He was in town because his team was up at Dodd
Stadium playing our Connecticut Tigers for a three game series. That's why
I brought my ball to the park. The ball was a gift from the Norwich Rotary
Club as I closed out my year as the President back in 1999. It had Fryman's
signature on it and I proudly added it to the display I have in my office at
church the one everyone calls "The Shrine." For the last eleven years it sat
there among my most valuable possessions. On Tuesday Travis
personalized it for me.
Some people collect memorabilia with an eye on what things are worth but
that isn't how I place value on things. Almost every bit of memorabilia I
have has a story to it. Some things are personalized. Other objects were
gifts. That's what makes them valuable to me. Someone once told me that
the baseball card I have that is signed by Mark "The Bird" Fidrych isn't
worth anything because "To Cal" is written on it. I told them that it may be
true to a card shop owner but to me it was priceless. It was one of a kind.
The truth is that you and I are one of kind too. God created us that way.
Each and every one of us were known by God even before we were
conceived in the womb. God had called us by name and set us apart with a
purpose in life. In Psalm 139 David says: For you created me in my
mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made... All
the days were ordained for me were written in your book before one of
them came to be..." That means that you and I have God's signature on us.
That makes us priceless.
We were personalized before we even knew the light of day. It is not how
smart we are or how good looking we may be that determines our value to
God. It isn't how much money we have or how much education we have
that makes God love us. He loves us simply because we belong to him and
his name is on our hearts. So it doesn't matter what the rest of the world
says about us. We are precious collectibles to God.
God bless. See you in church or maybe up at the ball park. Cal.
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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