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I used to have an alarm on my Google Calendar that chimed each morning @ 6:50 AM. It's titled, "Be Desperate for God's Leading in Golf". Why? Because, I discovered a few months ago, that the Lord "created my inmost being; you (He) knit me together in my mother's womb and that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.." My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139 I've interpreted that to mean that; when, from the moments where I was growing in my Mom's womb, God placed in me all that He wanted and meant for me to be, according to His will, His purposes, Him. This includes, in my innermost being, my passions and desires, ie, what I was meant to be. I have and, you have and all created humans have a passion for something, like, a profession, an avocation, and, as long as that passion/desire is not immoral, that the Lord has placed that passion/desire in our very being. Can golf be that passion/desire? Ask Tom Lehman, ask Keegan Bradley or Ben Crane and, by the way and you might see or hear a bit of passion. So, I believe the Lord placed a passion/desire for the game of golf in my innermost being.  When I was just 8 years old I was riding my bike past a beautiful looking "park" or "field". I wasn't quite sure what it was at the time, but, I saw a bunch of older kids sitting around the front of the big "house" that was at the center of the "park" and I rode by and asked them what they were doing. "Caddying" was the answer. "What's that?" was my question. "Just shut up and sit down if you wanna caddie." So, I sat down. Two weeks later and, after sitting for most of that time when I could go down there, a very interesting thing happened; I could see this tall, confident man with a golf hat, white shoes and huge forearms walking toward the caddies. I thought, this guy must have been a bad dude because all the caddies scattered. I didn't know better. "Who wants to shag?" He boomed out. Honestly, there was, literally no one within hailing distance but me, so, I jumped up and said, "I will." I could hear the smirking and laughter from around the building, but, for the first time in two weeks, I was given something to do other than sitting and not being talked to, nor caddying, whatever that meant.  This man ushered me over to the other side of the street from the caddie station to a huge open park area with all kinds of golf balls perched on the beautifully mowed grass. "Stand right about here and as the balls are hit from my student, you go and pick them up, put 'em in this leather bag and trot up to me with them when I call you in."
"Sure, Sir." My thought; what the heck is he talking about? Well, I found out as I stood out there and chased balls all afternoon and "trotted" back to the tee (I found out that was where he was standing with his students). At the end of the day he called me in and handed me $10 bucks, I believe, and said; "Wanna do this again tomorrow?" "Yes, Sir. What time would you like me here?" "See you at 10 AM." For the next few weeks, I "shagged" for the "Pro" of the Belmont Country Club, Belmont, Massachusetts almost every day. One day, it looked like one of his students didn't arrive and he called me up to the tee. "Have you ever hit a golf ball?" "No, Sir." "Would you like to learn how?" "Yessir, I sure would, but I don't have any clubs." "Here, he said, you can use this one. Ok, just come over here, stand this way. Take your hands and ......." I WAS HOOKED!!!!! So, I'm thinkin', now, that this was the beginning of what God had put in me as a passion, because, now, at 71 years old, the game of golf, everything about it, is my passion, but, along the way, God replaced the desire to play golf for myself with a desire to serve Him and introduce Him to any golfer or anyone else I came in contact with. From my Mom's womb. Go figure..... In Him2 Bill
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Update: The surgery was postponed to December 4th. Still a small cloud in the back of my mind, lol So (as many conversations begin these days) today is the day of my full knee replacement on my right knee. It’s not that big of a deal, most people say, but I’ve recognized that those that say that it’s not much of a big deal have been the ones that have had it happen before, but, certainly not those who are headed towards having it done. Nevertheless, I am comforted and positive that a surgery that is probably conducted hundreds of times a day throughout the country and many times that I’ve heard of in our own community that the surgery is quite routine and I will come out of it for the better.
Yep, there is this cloud that is forming and has been forming in the back of my mind relative to having my knee and it's inward parts completely exposed. The funny part is that when this first came about I was researching on YouTube to look for different surgeries that I may find similar to mine and discovered one that was totally freaking me out and, I found out later was a a surgery in which a gentleman had completely mangled his leg and there was a spike hanging out of his thigh. They were hitting it with a hammer. It was pretty disgusting and very alarming quite honestly. But upon discovery of the fact that the knee surgery replacement is really not that violent (I saw a couple of other YouTube videos that brought me through the surgery and, yes, it’s traumatic but it’s certainly nothing of great importance). So, we’re going for knee surgery today. It's so interesting being a believer in Jesus Christ and following him in life over the past 34 years to come to this juncture at 65 years old and having to deal with a surgery such as this. You know ”this isn’t brain surgery” as people say. But, it is surgery. And so why is this cloud in the back of my mind when I have full trust in Christ that he will work all things out to the glory of Himself. I am his son, I am one of his followers, I am in the Kingdom, and I'm living out his grace and mercy and will in this . It’s just that I’m going for knee surgery today. It has been so enlightening and encouraging to have Believers, Church members, family members and friends encourage me and pray for me and give me their blessings relative to a surgery that is, as I say, “not, really, brain surgery”. It's wonderful to see those that care for me and express that in social media posts and phone calls and text messages. It is really enlightening. God, I pray that your will would be done today. I pray that the doctor, Dr Barrett, and his staff and the anesthesiologist and anyone that is in a support role or a technical role relative to the surgery that You would lead their hands. You would guide their hands. You would allow all things, Father, to work out to the glory of Yourself. You would be glorified. Father, allow the surgery to go well, for it to be quick, and for the healing and my physical therapy to be conducted and finished appropriately in order that I may continue to serve you. In the name of Jesus Christ. Your son Bill) Update: The surgery was postponed to December 4th. Still a small cloud in the back of my mind, lol |
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