who am I

One of Father's purposes in leading me through the pain of a broken marriage has been to show me my true identity. Who am I? What defines me? My physical appearance? My ethnicity and nationality? My family and friends? My religion and politics? My career? My balance sheet? People's opinions of me? Although all of the preceding categories can be used to describe me, there is one answer that supersedes them all in defining who I am - I am His! The song below illustrates this in a beautiful way -

Who Am I

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

Chorus:
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

I am Yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
'Cause I am Yours
I am Yours

Written by Mark Hall
Music by Casting Crowns
Song based on Psalms 52 and 139 and Ephesians 2

Live free! Live in Daddy's affection!

jackie robinson

This month marked the 60th anniversary of one of the most significant events in professional sports - Jackie Robinson's debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. On that day, Jackie became the first African-American to play Major League Baseball, paving the way for people from all ethnic backgrounds to participate in professional sports at the highest level.

Some national publications have questioned Jackie's legacy due to the fact that the percentage of African-Americans in Major League Baseball this season (8.3%) is the lowest since the 1960's. Those who would question Jackie's legacy fail to appreciate the broader scope of his accomplishments and his impact on American culture as a whole. Jackie's courage and fortitude continue to serve as an inspiration for people of all races and walks of life.

A four-sport athlete at UCLA, Jackie carried the hopes and aspirations of an entire race of people on his shoulders in the face of unimaginable opposition. I would argue that his debut with the Dodgers in 1947, not Rosa Parks's refusal to give up her seat on a bus in 1955, was the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement as we know it. Ironically, while Jackie was serving in the Army during World War II, he was court-martialed for refusing to move to the rear of a bus on his Army base. He was acquitted of the charges.

Reflecting on her husband in Jackie Robinson: An Intimate Portrait, Rachel Robinson had this to say: "Like Mallie (Jackie's mother), Jack felt God's presence in the most personal way. ... I attribute the wonder he experienced as group after group saluted him to one of his least publicly recognized traits - his humility. I admired this characteristic when I first met him, and I watched it develop and deepen as he matured. I am convinced that this humility stemmed from both his religious faith and his sense of himself, for he often told me that he believed he had been endowed with talent to be of service to others."

I am moved to tears every time I watch the segment on Jackie Robinson in Ken Burns's PBS documentary, Baseball. Jackie is a true American hero - a man of conviction and integrity who laid down his life so that others might have the freedom to pursue their dreams.

- Lindsay

Live free! Live in Daddy's affection!