Author: Dana

With the Red Sox playing the Dodgers in the World Series this year, I am reminded of a special gift to our family in 2007.

On June 9, 2018, Jon Albert was named a CNN Hero for ‘making extraordinary contributions that make a difference in our world.’  Jon’s wife died of breast cancer in 2006.  Witnessing the impact the struggle against cancer had on their two children and experiencing the trial as a husband and caretaker, Jon started The Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation to help families dealing with life-threatening cancer. Literally hundreds of families have been blessed by this generous organization.

In the summer of 2007, my family was chosen by the Foundation to visit Boston and attend a Red Sox game in Fenway Park. We were invited to go onto the field during batting practice, and Taylor hoped to get an autograph from David Ortiz (‘Big Papi’) or Manny Ramirez, the only two players he was familiar with on the American League team.

Kinsey stood near the Red Sox dugout and heard two fans yell, “Hey Mikey!” They knew the player and walked over and gave hugs and talked. Kinsey was standing an arm’s length away. She motioned me over and said, “Tell Taylor I can get this player’s autograph; I am standing right next to him.” I delivered the message and Taylor asked, “Who is he?” I answered, “I don’t know… some guy named Mikey.” Taylor said, “I don’t want his autograph if we don’t even know who he is.” So the invitation was declined.

In the first inning, a batter was introduced: “Third baseman, Mike Lowell!” The home crowd roared. Kinsey said, “That’s Mikey!”

Mike hit a home run. Taylor moaned. Karlyn laughed. The Red Sox ended up winning the World Series later that year. Guess who was named Most Valuable Player? Mike Lowell, third baseman for the Boston Red Sox…

Jesus did not say to the woman at the well: “If you knew who I was, you would ask Me for an autograph.” He did say: “If you knew the gift of God and Who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you Living Water.” (John 4:10)

We know who He is…

“On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of Living Water will flow from within him.’ By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.” John 7:37-39

In the summer of 1975 I met a pretty dark skinned girl with long black hair. Her name was Susan and in the summer of 1981 we married. When you are a teenage boy you don’t think too much beyond the weekend, but if I could counsel a kid about marriage, I would encourage him to look far beyond his girlfriend’s beauty and ponder questions that might never cross the mind.

Will she be one you can count on through thick and thin? We just repeat “in sickness and in health” because the preacher says it, but what if tough times really come? Will your lover be faithful? I joined another patient and three multiple myeloma doctors at a conference in downtown Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. I shared, “Be sure to honor your caregiver. My wife has been amazing these eighteen years and I would not be sitting on this stage without her.” That statement received a long applause in the room full of those dealing with the disease.

Will she be a good mother? Noble goals and youthful dreams may be put on hold when kids come into the world. No matter what a person’s philosophy about raising children is, being a mother is no joke. The time, the energy, the sacrifice, and the love required is beyond comprehension. In addition to loving their husbands, mothers extend themselves, give of themselves, and deny themselves for the good of the little ones God has given.

Will she be a good grandmother? My joy now is watching Susan love Wilkes, Macy, and Owen. She will leave in a few days to fly to Denver to help Kinsey bring another granddaughter into the world. We joke that the grandchildren are more fun than the children, but we’re truly loving everyone. When I was a twenty-one year old newlywed, I doubt I would have paid much attention to someone trying to get me to envision what type of grandmother my new bride would be, but decades later it is an important matter.

Thanks for your prayers for Susan as she serves, and for Kinsey, Jordan, and Owen as they anticipate a new member of the family.

“May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.” Proverbs 5:18