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Well things here in the AZ have
been going pretty well. I am definitely
in the flow of baseball and ready for games to start on Thursday. I have thrown
pretty well the last couple of times out.
It is hard to really judge how things are going without being in a game
situation. The weather has been crazy
out here. There was snow and freezing
rain in parts of Scottsdale
the other day. It's insane because this
is the desert, suppose to be valley of the sun, and for crying out loud its
Spring Training. Its not suppose to do
that. And I was so fortunate to get to
throw on that day (I am being very sarcastic when I say that). If you don't know already I absolutely hate
cold weather, and especially to throw in it.
Ya you can call me a wimp, but really I have to learn to survive when it
is too cold to feel your hands. It's all
mental, and being able to perform in adverse situations is what makes or breaks
guys at this level. So this is my 6th
one of these and I have never seen all the mountains around Phoenix snow capped before (It really is a
beautiful sight). It has warmed up quite
a bit since then, and is now getting back to being normal spring training
weather.
So things in Arizona
are going well, but that is all secondary this week compared to what is going
down in Fort Worth, Texas.
My niece Cora Rose Crowell was born on Sunday. Everything is going great, and she came in at
a whopping 8lbs 0 oz and was 20 inches long.
She has blonde hair and from the pictures that I have seen she is such a
cutie. So I really can't wait to meet
her. She is really the first girl to be
born into the Crowell family in recent history. I don't know if we have any idea what we are going
to do, but I am sure it will be a wonderful and exciting experience.
I wish I was there to hang out with
the new family, but I know God has a plan for me here. Things spiritually are going well. I was able to go to this awesome church
service with a friend from here that I met at Journey a few weeks ago. The worship was outstanding and it was such a
blessing to hear someone break down the word and bring it. I am pumped about catching the Third Day/
David Crowder Concert (again!) this weekend.
I am trying to take a few of the teammates I have been talking to, to go
to church or the concert with me. Well I
will let you know how things are going with the games starting this week. Hope all is going well, and I thank you again
for being such a constant encouragement to me. | | |
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Hey guys,
Greetings
from Spring Training in the desert Oasis which is Phoenix, Arizona. Things here have been going well so far. We have had two days of workouts and as in
past years the first couple of days is more of a breaking in process and pretty
laid back. We go every day till I think
like April 3rd or something.
I threw a bullpen on Thursday and I will throw another one tomorrow. Then throw live batting practice (that’s to
actual real life hitters) on Tuesday and then games start next Thursday. I am
pretty happy with how I have thrown and my arm feels really good, but
everything else on me is pretty sore. It
does not matter how good of shape you are in it seems that the first couple of
days of spring training you get sore from all the baseball movements,
conditioning, and running around all
day. Besides, this getting up at 6:45
everyday is for the birds (early ones, not me). Ok so it’s not really that bad,
but I am getting into my routine (it’s just a little bit earlier than
normal….Ok alot).
Ya so it has not rained here in 140 days (I
know it’s crazy, must be the desert or something) and I went out to play golf with my agent and
what happened? Of course……. It Rained!!
And I am not talking about a little bit. I am talking about a good old fashion
gully washer (Where did that come from. I miss Texas already). And it was so cold and coming down
sideways. So yes we just kept playing. It was just like that scene from Caddie Shack
and my agent looks just like the old guy. I so wish I could have taken a
picture. It really was hilarious. Everything else is going well on the
Spiritual Front. God has given me the
blessing of providing me with some much needed Christian fellowship. I was prepared coming into camp with how dark
it would be spiritually. Even knowing that before hand I have to fully rely on
Him and die to myself everyday to overcome things that are continually being
thrown in my path. God is still
sovereign and His Grace is enough.
Thanks again for the encouragement and prayer, you guys are such a
Blessing!!!!
Deuteronomy 31:8
Psalm 55:22
Heb 12:14
In Christ,
Kyle<><
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Well this is the first of my
frequent updates on how my season is going.
First of all let me know how grateful that I feel to have you guys as a
body of fellow believers to encourage and pray for me. I have said it before you guys have no idea
how much of a blessing your encouragement and prayer is to my life. Well I have finally left for Phoenix. I took a round about way to stay
with my buddie in Austin and then my brother in Ft. Worth.
I had such a blast in Austin. I stayed with one of my long time roommates
with the A’s and his wife on her parent’s lake house. It was awesome to just
hang out and take out the boat and jet skis out on the lake. It was quite the
vacation and after how hard the off season had been going it was a great break. Boy I really enjoyed that, and I think I
could handle a little more of that, and man what beautiful weather. We threw (even to the local high school
team), worked out, ran (man those hills really suck to run, at least Houston is flat) and he
somehow talked me into going to this special yoga class. Ok let me be the first
to admit that I had never been one for yoga. You know with all the body, mind,
and soul stuff, but this one was different and he promised me that it would not
be too bad. However, it was in this humidified room that was kept at 100
degrees and 50% humidity. Ok it is fairly
safe to say that the idea that there were actual places in Texas where people go to sweat and they try
to make it feel hotter and more humid than it actually is outside, has never crossed
my mind. As for the yoga part itself, I
have not heard that much snap, crackle, and popping since I used to house those
rice crispies for breakfast as a kid. It
was good for me except for losing like 20lbs of water weight. It looked and sounded like someone turned a
water faucet on. Austin
was great, but nothing can top hanging out with the nephew tonight. Now he is definitely the man, and we are
going to work on that baseball swing while I am here.
Ok so what’s the real scoop? How is the baseball part going? Things are going just as well as I could have
hoped. The count down is to 5 days till
the start of Spring Training. Physically
I am in the best shape of my life and my throwing has been going really well. I
tweaked my shoulder a little bit on Monday lifting weights. It gave me a bit of a scare, but it is
feeling much better today. I am a little
tired of every day being ground hog day, and I am so ready to finally get out
and compete. I know that I have done
everything in my power to prepare myself for the biggest month of my baseball
career. I trust in God and know that He has
a plan for me. It’s my prayer that I
honor Him on and off the field for the Glory of Christ. Thank you so much for your continued support
and encouragement. I am here in Ft. Worth
till I head out for Phoenix
on Sunday.
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| Ok I started my round about trip to Spring Training today. Drove to stay with my buddie and his wife in Austin. I will work my way through Ft. Worth before heading out to Phoenix on Sunday. Ya today was just an awesome time to hang out and relax (riding jet skis on the lake behind the house).
I am really excited and ready to get going. I am not really too nervous (yet..... I pray not to be when the time finally arrives). More than anything I am just ready to get on the field and compete. I feel I have something to prove and I can't wait to get out there. I have never felt as prepared coming out of an off season as I do right now. I am in the best shape of my life and I tried to honor God with maximizing the talent and abilities that I was blessed with.
Wether its physically or spiritually God has really done a work in me this off season. As much as I have improved physically I believe more than anything that the gains I have made spiritually are what have made more of an impact in me. I remember last year how scared I was towards the end of Spring Training as I feared the possibility of being released. I don't think I was equipped to handle that. For so long I have found my acceptance and identity in baseball. This will be my 21st baseball season and if God desires me to play any more in the future it will be Him and Him alone that makes that possible. I have to give it all over to Him and believe in my heart that He knows what is best for me. I had held on so tight to what I wanted that I was just taking Him along for the ride. In doing that I had robbed myself of all the joy that results in honoring Him by giving Him and Him alone my total effort each and every day. I was no longer putting Him first on the field. I was playing for myself and the acceptance that I received from others. So my prayer for this Spring Training is that I stay focused on Him and to seek the joy that comes from honoring Him with the talents that He has given me. Although my performance on the field gives me a great opportunity to worship and serve Him, It is my ministry off the field that gives me the greatest opportunity to serve Him. God has placed me in a very specific and unique mission field that allows me to share the Gospel with people who can normally be very difficult to reach and connect with. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate all of your continued prayer and encouragement. I will be sending you guys frequent updates throughout Spring Training and the rest of the season. | | |
| I would much rather write about things of the Lord than anything else. I apologize for using a sports analogy, but it is what I spend the majority of my time doing. Ok today I had my workout at Rice University (I know I know, I only use the stadium out of lack of options). One thing that I dread is Mondays and Fridays, because on those days we do our most intense running workouts. To do what I love to do (Baseball) requires me to push myself to find out what my limits actually are (which by the way is really not fun at all). Well anyway today my partner and I had a bleacher run in the upper deck. I wont boor you with details, but it is as intense an hour of running as I have ever spent. We have pushed ourselves up to 24 bleachers and today before I ran I asked that God would show me something during my run. With my IPod jamming out to David Crowder I was ready to get after it. Running is great for me, because it is a good time to reflect on the Lord and for me it is my chance to praise Him and dwell on the things of the Lord.
Things were fine till about the time I got to about bleacher #10. It was then that I began having doubts and thoughts that I would not make it to 24 today. I began to reason to myself on why I should shut it down early. I came up with excuses like: it’s too windy, I feel weak because did not eat anything this morning, you don't see anyone else working this hard why should I, or that my legs were really tired because I worked them out pretty hard yesterday. I reasoned that it would be fine if I just stopped, after all I know I had already worked harder than most of my teammates anyway, what harm would it do. It was at this time that God showed me what was happening to me was that my flesh was crying out. My bodily flesh does not like to be disciplined or trained, and above all it hates to endure pain. My flesh was coming up with every excuse imaginable to try to get me to stop, so that I would not complete my goal. I thought about how this relates to my spiritual life. How my flesh is weak and in constant fight with my spirit. How when it comes to discipline and spiritual training, I have to fight the same fight and excuses daily. When it comes to reading my Bible and Praying, my flesh is in constant battle and reasoning with excuses as to why I can get away with cutting myself short on what I know Christ’s goal is for me. I thought about what Paul talks about in I Cor 9:25 when he says “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable”. I wish that I had more of a passion for things of the spirit than I do for things of the flesh. Why do I too often times put more emphasis on my physical training than I do on my spiritual training. Baseball is something that I do; it does not define who I am. Being a Christian (little Christ) is not something I do, it is who I am and what I was created for.
I also realized the importance that accountability plays in our spiritual life. Having my workout partner do the workout with me, made the workout a much easier task than if I had been doing it all on my own. Not only did I have someone to push me along the way, but it was much more comforting knowing that I was not alone in my struggles, and that we were working together, encouraging each other to accomplish this goal. I thank God for revealing Himself even in the most boring and mundane tasks in life. Oh by the way, Yes we did finish, and we cut down our previous fastest time by 5 min, but what was revealed to me spiritually in the process was way more valuable than anything that it did for me physically. 1Cor 9:26-27 “Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I beat my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified”.
I really believe that my soul is always in need of some spiritual conditioning. I would start by cutting some of the fat that seems to have been accumulating due to a somewhat complacenct attitude in my walk, and lack of exercising my faith. It is also important for me to increase my flexibility and range of motion as I try to improve on different areas of ministry that are somewhat uncomfortable to me and foreign to my comfort zone. Finally I would like to try to improve my endurance to be able to finish strong the long race that is set out before me. To be able to do this I must have the proper nutrition needed to reach my goals. I desire to daily hunger for to the bread of life (Gods Word), to have the thirst of my soul to be a constant unquenchable thirst for (Worship), while always relying on the communication (Prayer) with my trainer (Lord and Savior J.C.) for constant encouragement and a understanding of His spiritual fitness strategy for my life. This is essential because I know there will always be constant changes and improvements down the road that are essential for my future development and growth, as I know my flesh will be in constant battle with the desires of my spirit.
I apologize for my excessive length. But no one ever accused me of having nothing to say.
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