What a week off

The blog took a vacation, but only because it was such a hectic work week. By the time I got home, I really couldn't stand to sit in front of the computer anymore.

Some really exciting things happened in the past week, though, that really deserved some attention.

• Nats game, meeting a pro player. Is it safe to consider a guy I rode on a metro train and stood at metro stops with for an hour or two my new best friend? I think so. I think I spoke two words to him as his time was occupied mainly by crazy Cardinals fan Peter Petrelli, a friend of my sister's. Anyway, kudos to my sister for scoring the tickets through my new BFF Bardo.
  
  
• Caps game. Went with Micah to Game 1 of the Caps/Pens series a week ago Saturday. Awesome experience. I've been to several Caps games through the last 15 years, but never saw anything like the sea of Red, the mohawks, the great videos. Let's not forget that the seats were amazing.
  
  I am not in the camp of you give "x" and God gives "X" in return. However, I do believe that God does sometimes provide tangible demonstrations of reward. These tickets were a great example. My friend CapsfreakStacie called Becca on Friday night and told her about these tickets that her boss purchased and wondered if we wanted to go. She told me that they were pretty expensive, and I hesitated because we try to be smart with our spending dollars and this would be an investment. But, when would I get a chance to go to a game like this again, so we decided to get the tickets. Then Becca said she couldn't go, and I needed to find someone to take this second ticket. I went to my brother and dad first, but my brother, being the only Caps fan I know who would rather get text updates of a game while he's at work than go to the game bailed, and my dad said he wasn't feeling well enough. Then CapsfreakStacie texted me and said that her boss would prefer that a total stranger not get the ticket, so could I think of anyone at the church to go.
  
  Here's where it gets sticky. I called my buddy Todd first. He's somewhat involved with church. He said that he had soccer games for the kids, and he was actually planning family night at the Potomac Nats game, so he couldn't go. I told him that I actually wasn't inviting him anyway, thanks for nothing.* Then I made a huge mistake. I had the impression that I had a limited time to find a second person for these tickets or they were bye-bye. So I called three people and basically left it up to first-come, first-serve. I called Eric, our church-planting buddy in Pittsburgh. I half-jokingly said he should drive down and watch the Pens' annihilation in person. Then I called Zac. Left him a message. I also called Micah. Left him a message. Then I waited. Nothing. I felt like hours were going by, although it may have been minutes. I called Becca back and said, you should re-arrange your work schedule and just go to this game. She said ok. Problem solved.
  
  Then Zac called. Disaster averted, he couldn't make it. Some time later, I looked at my phone, and I had 7 missed calls and 2 voice mails. Uh oh. First message "This is Micah. If you still have that ticket, I'd love to go." This became craptastic. Second message was from Becca, as were 6 of the 7 missed calls. She said that she forgot that she had Toluca Road rehearsals and there was no way to get out of that. I felt like Jack Bauer. Everytime a new crisis arose, I met the evil square in the face and things worked out. I called Micah back, told him that everything was great, the ticket was his.
  
  Then, Eric called. Told me that he'd love to drive down for the game. DAGGER. I sheepishly called him back and told him what happened. He told me that it was cool and probably for the best that he watch the game in the friendly Pittsburgh confines. He turned out to be correct. The Pens were crushed (although the series is turning out to be a different story).
  
  Ben, when are you getting to the part where you talk about God and blessings and relate this to church in a way other than name-dropping people who work at churches?
  
  So Micah and I go to the game, and its great. We were on TV constantly, so if anyone out there recorded the game and can screengrab, I'd love to get that from you. Anyway, I texted CapsfreakStacie and asked her how much I owed her boss for the tickets, and he said nothing. As in zero. As in zip. As in free. He said to Stacie that he wanted to be able to bless people who have been a blessing to others, and he just hoped we had a good time. Well, we did. And we are humbled and grateful.
  
  I certainly don't get paid to serve in the ministries I'm involved in. In fact, it seems like the more I put in, the more God asks to give. Time for prayer, preparation, communication, administration, study, thinking, planning...it can be extremely taxing mentally, physically and spiritually. But the reward is a closer relationship with Christ, not just for those in I-268, but for me and my family. It is an aweome feeling though, to receive a gift like this and know that it was from God through this generous individual. It motivates me to continue to serve, to continue to grow because it is not a fruitless pursuit.

*Said response was merely for entertainment purposes and did not actually occur in real time.

Should see more blogging and twittering from me today and this week. See ya.