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What a PICTURE?!

Here are two teams playing an important game, deciding a conference champion.  And this 5′ 4″ girl pops a home run over the center field fence to take the lead. Only to have her knee blow out as she rounds first base.  She can’t continue her celebration run around the diamond.

• If she doesn’t get around the bases her homerun will only be counted as a single.
• If her own team assists her she will be called out for, “aiding the runner”.

It is her senior year in college, possibly her last at bat for her softball career and her FIRST homerun EVER!

Unbelievably the first baseman and shortstop of the OPPOSING team scoop her up, and yep, carry her around the bases stopping at each base to gently let her touch each base with her good leg.

I first saw this story on ESPN’s late night Sportscenter.  As I am watching it tears are streaming down my face.  It is an amazing story and wonderful picture of so many things good.  Sure it is a wonderful act of sportsmanship, which by the way could be said, it caused the opposing team to lose the game.  Final score 4-2.

“In the end, it is not about winning and losing so much,” The first baseman said. “It was about this girl. She hit it over the fence and was in pain, and she deserved a home run.”

How true is this for Epic Church?  It really isn’t all that much about who is “in” and who is “out” but what is important is the the people of Epic Church give their lives away for others who are in pain and help them run the bases of life.  If Epic Church lived out this story 100 times over I know our city would be different.

There are people in Tucson with deep pain and they are just begging someone to come over scoop them up and help them on their journey.  The pains of life, divorce, addiction to drugs, addiction to porn, pride, idols, death, being laid off, being dumped, abortion, lust, being lied to.  The list could go on and on.  We have these pains inside of us and desire/need someone to come along side and help us on our journey.

What if the people of Epic Church said, “It isn’t so much about if you are a good person or a bad person.  It is more about helping people become all they were designed to become.  They, like me, are creations of Jesus and they deserve to experience God’s goodness.” ?