I'm not much of a sports person... I don't make it a point to follow any of them regularly. But if I had to choose one, it'd be baseball. There was a time when I was pretty into it, I guess... I followed the Rangers closely for a season or two, became well acquainted with the players and all that. Then I moved on. I still going to a Rangers game every once in a while, and if there's nothing else on... I'll watch 'em on TV. The last few years we've been to a few games and I really didn't know any of the guys on the team... but there was one name that kept coming up: Josh Hamilton. What's up with this guy? What's his story? I knew it had to do with drug addiction, then making a comeback... and oh, what?... he's a very outspoken Christian too? Awesome!
I went and picked this book up the day AFTER Josh happened to have been in the store for a book signing (dang!). It was a present for my husband, but I knew I'd get around to reading it before he did. I was right. I'm not gonna lie... I kind of glossed over all the baseball stats and talk, but the root of the story... of Josh's testimony... was interesting. The gist of it - Josh grew up knowing he'd be in the big leagues, he was so talented that EVERYONE knew it, even at age seven. He moved up quickly through the ranks (even playing in leagues with guys WAY older than him to even out the talent) and found himself a first pick in the first round draft - a player's dream come true. As fast as Josh made his way up, he made his way down... after several injuries and having to sit out game after game, he began spending too much time with the wrong people, leading to drugs, alcohol and years of addiction.
Josh Hamilton should be dead. The stuff he put his body through, the situations he found himself in... the only reason he's alive is because, as his Mama said, "God must love baseball players." After dropping out of all the expensive, high society rehabs in the country, what saved Josh was... God. There's no other explanation possible. The details of his comeback are in the book, so you'll have to read it yourself... but it is rather miraculous that this man who should be dead was so quickly able (once he finally turned it over to God) to turn his life around so drastically, build his body back up and join a major league baseball team - and be an MVP. I mean, do you remember the Home Run Derby of 2008? Yeah, Josh has definitely been blessed with talent and skill and it's so great that he's using those for the Lord now.
This is a good read, don't let the baseball talk (if that's not your thing) drag you down... because Josh's testimony is amazing, and definitely inspiring.
Keep rockin' for Christ!
Jade =)
No comments:
Post a Comment