You can smell rain in the air tonight. Chances are that it will pass by us but at least there is that familiar fragrance. Summer is going out with a furnace blast of heat. Once green grass is now losing the battle to remain vibrant. You can see dusty brown conditions wherever you may look. We can only hope that none of our young athletes or band members suffers while out in these conditions. We had a good morning here despite the sweltering temperatures. I got to baptize three more students at the start of the service. One of my favorite kids came running up to me and gave me a huge hug just prior to speaking. I did put a lot on our student minister. My youngest and I traveled over to Canton, Texas to retrieve his sister from a visit. All of the plans for getting her stayed up in the air most of the week. At the last minute I had to drop some things on his plate. Sorry about that. No doubt everything worked out fine.

I guess today or tomorrow marks the halfway point of August. Math was never my strong suit. Can you really divide thirty one days by two? My mind struggles that there are only about six weeks left in baseball. Major league teams begin the playoffs the first of October. The next month and a half will be all about teams sprinting toward the conclusion of the season. Four teams out of each league will square off until only two teams play in the World Series. Baseball holds this championship series each fall. I don't know how many times over the years we had a World Series. I do know that the team that my daughter and I pull for has never even been one time. The New York Yankees have over 25 championships to their credit. Surely there is room for our team to win at least one. This could very well be their year.

Two days ago our team fell behind the Red Sox 8-2 in the third or fourth inning. It was an ugly sight to behold. My attention turned to finishing a biography on Abraham Lincoln at that point. Our team slowly started to put some runs together as I drew near the close of the book. Tension escalated with every inning as we crept closer to the visiting team. One player in particular basically took the game over with his offense and his defense. Josh Hamilton got hits four out of his five times at bat. He also made two highlight reel catches while playing in the outfield. He finally scored the tying run by a breakneck dash from second base on an infield hit. Football and basketball games are more prone to one person dominating the play on the field or court. Baseball is a much different sport. Yet this one athlete almost single handily made the difference in a game our guys won in extra innings. It was a game and performance for the ages.

I told my daughter that it seems fitting for Hamilton to have such a huge role to play in that comeback win. He is in many ways the ultimate comeback story. Originally drafted by another team, Hamilton almost threw away his promising career due to his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Josh Hamilton is now 6'4 and weights about 230 pounds. When he crashed under the weight of his demons the weight was down below 180 pounds. It's taken about four years for him to rebuild his body along with his skills. He is a faithful follower of Jesus now. God blessed him with skills that are rare in his game. I got to talk with him for just a few minutes two years ago. He seems to be genuine in his understanding that God's grace restored his faith, his family and his gifts. My hope is that he stays in front of his past darkness to reach the full potential of his talent.

We can all use a comeback from time to time. Failure can haunt even the most devout of believers. Our perspective goes astray when we blow it in ways large and small. We can quickly forget God's comfort in the haze of guilt. Never give up even in the most devastating of blunders. The gospel message is one of redemption along with the promise of God's unconditional love. It is not that God overlooks our sin. The greater truth is that He values the cross far more than He counts our failures. Blowing it is not the last word for the healthy believer. Allow God to do His work to reclaim the error of your ways. Don't quit just because you feel like you are so far behind that you will never catch up. The mercy of our God always matters far more than our mistakes. Make your story not about how far you fell but how much God overwhelms you with His grace.

Bro. Trey