Bitter Sweet Weekend

I am out of town this week on business so a very short post before I leave. It was a bitter sweet weekend for me. Mostly sweet though.

On Friday evening, my daughter, Maria, and I watched the Vanderbilt baseball team beat UK. The winner of this weekend series would lead the SEC east. We had great seats, 2nd row right behind the plate compliments of Ingram Industries. However, Vandy lost Saturday's and Sunday's games. But they are still in the hunt and have great chance of making the College World Series. They barely missed last year. There were a lot of pro scouts there watching our sophomore pitcher David Price, arguably the best pitcher in college baseball. Two scouts from the Arizona Diamondbacks sat next to us (World Series rings are very, very big). They were very nice and let Maria use the radar gun to track Price's pitches. When she was doing it, he pitched 3 consecutive pitches at 93 mph! They want to sign him this year. I hope he stays. They say Price will get $2-3 million just for signing his name to a contract. This is separate from the actual contract amount which will be very large.

Vanderbilt quarterback and this year's SEC Player of the Year, Jay Culter, was picked 11th in the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. This is a great place for him. Can you imagine being 23 years old and about to sign a contract for $10s of millions? Jay is a great guy and very down to earth. Many experts thought he was the best quaterback for the pro game in the draft this year.

Saturday night I saw one my guitar heros and one the greatest players in the world, Steve Howe. Unfortunately, his almost entirely acoustic set was at the Exit/In and would have been so much better at TPAC or some comparable venue. The setting did not lend itself to his beautiful style but nonetheless it was an incredible show. Steve Howe is the guitar player for Yes but has issued a large number of solo albums. He can play any style on any stringed instrument.

The most bitter sweet moment this weekend was last night. We had our last college life group. My wife and I have hosted a college life group for Otter Creek in our home for the last 4 years. Anita fixes them a meal each Sunday evening, ~3 times per mo. We grew very close and 6 of our college kids, as Maria calls them, have been with us for all 4 years and are graduating this weekend.

We had a wonderful time together sharing, singing, praying, and reflecting. These students brought the Holy Spirit into our house each week and provided an example for Maria that only God could provide us. I will miss the deep studies we have had that surpassed any adult life group I have ever been in (and I have been in some really good ones). Most of all we will miss them as our family. They leaned on us and we leaned on them. One of the young men has become my closest friend.

As I write to you how much Anita and I love these young men and women of God, I am shedding tears. Please pray for their lives, that God will lead and protect them. They are as spiritually mature as any group I have ever known and my family will always have a small hole without them in it.