First, the aggressive bug bites that I had acquired in the swamp on the shoulder of I95 had mutated into horrible disfiguring marks. Something would have to be done on that front.
Second, as I woke up, I heard...nothing. No chatter, no pitter-patter, no anything. I checked my phone to see what time it was, only to find that the battery had died overnight and and the alarm hadn't gone off.
I had my GPS watch in my bag, and checked it to find that it was 10am! I hadn't slept that late in years! I showered and rushed downstairs, remembering that we had made plans for 1030...but found no one. Not a soul except the dog- Baxter- who seemed as shocked to see me as I was to see an empty house. I had a bit of a 'Left Behind' moment, and started thinking- where are they? Seriously.
Just then, Scott's son came into the kitchen and greeted me. I asked where everyone was and he rattled of the everyone's itinerary and current location- it was fairly impressive. Scott had gone to work quickly, his sister and mother were out, his wife was asleep still, and he thought that Jeff had gone for a walk. We talked and got to know each other better over coffee, and before long the basement door opened and Jeff appeared- he had been downstairs with his bible and devotionals.
He joined our conversation, and then Scott came in. Scott had a great plan for the afternoon- we would take in the Little League Museum and Stadium, then go for lunch at a restaurant that was famous for gigantic portions.
Jeff and I changed and loaded into the car and we were off to Williamsport, PA- about 15 minutes away. The field is exactly as it appears on TV- only better. It is cooler than a lot of Major League parks. It's the one that you see on TV every year. A scaled down version of a pro stadium with unbelievable views.
We then walked over sand checked out the 'second tier' stadium. Second tier? Seriously?
From there we went to "Haywood's", a restaurant famous for it's portion sizes and...well...the food sizes in general.
Jeff ordered the "Roethlis-Burger"- named for Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. It was stupid.
I ordered the "Menden-Hog"- after Rashard Mendenhall. It was a giant burger topped with pork, melted cheese, and bacon! Not much better.
Scott played it safe and had a big bowl of jambalaya- a switch from his usual order of "The Willie Stargell".
I ate the majority of the burger, and almost none of the fries. Jeff SLAUGHTERED his burger. For real.
Scott was disappointed in the jambalaya- which was a shame. When I get the photos of the burgers, I'll post them in a separate entry.
We drove back to Scott's to discover that Don had arrived- he drove straight from Chattanooga, TN, leaving at 4am- and was napping. We all agreed to take a quick crash- if for no other reason, to recover from the giant amounts of beef we had ingested.
I was awakened 2 hours later to the sound of a 'hog call' coming up the stairs- Don waking Jeff up.
Don poked his head into my room, said hello, and then told me he'd meet me downstairs.
I quickly dressed- whites again- and hurried downstairs. We caught up on the drive to Starbucks, then grabbed a coffee and drove to the park for night two of the clinic.
Scott introduced everyone again, and went over the plan for the second skills clinic. Then he introduced Don, who talked about running mechanics and then shared a short gospel message.
The kids were receptive, and we broke off into our groups. It was the exact same as the night before, with Scott and I working with the hitters. I had so much fun I was giddy. What a relaxing, enjoyable, and blessed opportunity.
When we were done we went inside and Don spoke about forgiveness and repentance. The crowd listened intently, and both Jeff and I noticed that a woman who had been sitting way off to the side reading a magazine all night had put it away and listened.
We returned to Scott's house and a few of the coaches and volunteers met us there. We drank coffee and listened to funny stories and ate and ate and ate! On more than one occasion, Jeff and I referred to it as a cruise. Every time we turned around, Shelley was providing us with another amazing meal. Both Scott and Shelley are blessed with the gift of hospitality and making everyone feel truly loved and welcome.
We finally shut it down at about midnight, and I went to bed. After all, we had devotionals in the morning.
Wednesday's Verse- 1 Peter 4:10
"As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."
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