Can I be a fan of two MLB teams?

"Have you become a Cardinals fan yet?" my neighbor Mike says to me today. My response is "yeah, I'm working that direction." Then I added, "Must say, though, if you are the type that thinks you cannot like two MLB teams....that you MUST choose a favorite, then I don't know what to tell you. Cause if somehow, the Royals made it to the world series against the Cardinals, then I hate to say that I would have to cheer for the Royals."

What are your thoughts on the matter? Is cheering for MLB teams and loyalty tight? Must it be?! Must I have only ONE favorite?

Scripture says: "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other,; you will devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24) So our first and foremost loyalty is to God....and that, in my perspective is clear. But what is not clear is loyalty to just ONE MLB team....Can I love both the Royals and the Cardinals?

(by the way, this photo was taken on my camera phone the first game I went to at Busch Stadium, by the way, they are now calling it "Baseball Heaven!" All I have to say is "O MY!"

Anniversaries

It has been just about a year since we left Kansas City. That house we still own has not sold. It's overwhelming how different life is now. I re-read my posts from around this time last year and remembered how it felt to leave without any idea where we would land.

"Land" is an interesting way to say it. Land is not all that valuable in the city. Our house has become impossible to sell in the last year. There are many reasons for this. One primary reason is that the neighborhood has a bad reputation for being infested with drugs and violence. The real estate market is depressed.

Truly, people in the city are not as connected with "land" as people in rural areas. Around here there is a great appreciation for land. The winter wheat is very green. It's awesome! Since there has been so much rain, most corn fields have not been planted.

Land represents livelihood here. And now that I think about our journey from a place that is the picture of change and chaos to a place that is stable, I wonder if I will ever feel any kind of connection to this place. I think I have definitely landed here, yet I still feel like I am not at home.

So much has changed, yet not so much really. It is still a life of faith that I live with or without a piece of land..."Your statues have been my songs wherever I make my home." (NRSV).... "I set your instructions to music and sing them as I walk this pilgrim way." (the Message) Psalm 119:54

Is it spring yet?

This picture is from my trip in January. I'm pathetically slow at downloading pictures and that is to blame for my recent bad blogging spell. (I'll tell the other reason in a second.) My friend John now lives next to a lake by Rushville, IL. I spent a couple days with them and one of those days was bitterly cold. The picture was taken in the morning, my hair was wet, and it was frozen by the time we returned from the lake. The natives of Rushville were puzzled that I was so excited to walk on the frozen lake. It is no big deal to them. But to me, a native of New Mexico, never having lived that close to water and that far north was spell bound by the massive piece of ice. The other thing that I never experienced was the noise that comes from frozen lakes. A deep mysterious groan came from the frozen water. Maybe someone could comment if they know the name of this phenomenon?! After spend a few days in Rushville, I went to Florida and spent a few days with my feet in that water!! Amazing.

The other thing that has caused me to be a bad blogger: FACEBOOK! Yes, I thought I never would give in, but I have and absolutely love it. Go fetch me there! Very soon I will have something a little more thoughtful to put here. Like someday when I download that picture of my cheap Wal-Mart theomometer showing that it was 100 degrees. It has been doing that a lot lately. I will also post the first signs of spring as I am enjoying them in my yard....daphodils, tulips, mini irises, and a wonderfully bloomed Jane Magnolia tree.

Is it spring yet?