Luke’s Notebook

The sixth month of 2005 is here!

Mom and Dad are still in Williamsburg, Virginia, enjoying their trip. They have been calling in every night to talk with the family. The chubs especially get excited to talk with Mom and Dad and to tell them all about what we’ve been up to here. David was “talking” to Mom for a few minutes to night. I couldn’t hear what Mom was saying, but from David there was simply a steady flow of “Otay,” “Vut” (what) or “Yeah.” It was really cute! David’s a cute chub, so that’s not at all surprising.

Well, I’ve got to get to bed.

And I can’t hit the ball! Well, technically, I can hit it. I can’t hit the ball well. I’ve been popping up left and right! What’s even more frustrating is the pop-ups aren’t even traveling very far! They are almost going straight up. Not literally, but a lot of them are caught in the shallow part of the outfield. So I’m a bit flustered.

My problem may be as simple as dropping my hands when the pitch is coming, which would give me an uppercut type of swing, pulling the ball up into the air. I think on Thursday I’m going to try swinging a different bat. Maybe a change like that will help me fix things. Of course, if I am simply dropping my hands, then it doesn’t matter WHAT I’m hitting the ball with. So… Thursday I’ll try to consciously keep my hands up. Stay tuned for the results. =)

By the way, despite my batting 1-4, we won by a score of 9-8! Good going, guys! Thankfully, despite my hitting slump I’ve still been pretty solid in the outfield. In fact, today I made a diving catch (or trap) in the outfield. I thought I caught it, but the umpire ruled that I “trapped” the ball — meaning it hit the ground before I got it. Whatever the case, I’m glad I was able to get to it and get the ball — whether I actually caught it or not. As an outfielder, when you’re running in for a sinking ball, it can be a risk to dive for it, because if you don’t catch it, the ball is likely to roll way past you. Thankfully, such wasn’t the case today, as the ball made its way into my glove.

How was your Memorial Day? I hope it was nice! We had some lovely weather here in Illinois, and it was the perfect day to go to a Memorial Day party!

We played some Chicago ball, through some disc golf discs around, ate some delicious foodstuffs. I hit two homers, by the way, as I smacked that mushy Chicago ball with the wooden bat. All in all, it was a fun party. Mark, Jude, Philip, Seth and I had a great time playing our version of “Talkin’ Tango,” a really fun word game. Have you ever played it? I’m thinking it’d be a great game to play with someone you don’t know well, as you’re forced to work together.

The party lasted most of the afternoon, so when we got home it was almost sunset. Before it got completely dark, though, Paul, Mark, Jude, Seth, Nathan, Caleb and I went out to the back to throw some discs around. See, we’ve been experimenting with a new way to drive the disc, and it seems that this way has a couple of benefits in that it’s less stressful on the wrist, and discs also seem to fly farther when thrown this way. The key for me would be to be able to reliably and accurately drive this way. If I can accomplish that, then I would think this new driving technique is the way to go! All this talk of disc golf makes me want to go visit a course! Maybe one of these afternoons or early evenings we can go do that.

Well, that’s going to have to do it for tonight. It’s getting pretty late and I’m getting pretty tired. Last day of May, here we go!

Today, I almost watched Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. I thought it was going to work out for me to catch the 3:20 showing of the movie in Belleville, but things just didn’t quite fall into place like I hoped they would. I was planning to go with Paul, John, James and Philip. I’m baby-sitting for the chubs today, so it’s a unique situation, and it just wouldn’t work well for me to go now. Ah well! I would have liked to have seen the movie, but if I really want to I’m sure I can catch it at a later time, be it tonight or some other day.

I’m in the living room again, on the laptop. The reason I’m here is David is napping. He’s happily sleeping, so I’m just going to stay here on the couch while he rests. He might end up sleeping another hour, though, since he didn’t get to sleep as early as he normally does. For a while there, even though he was very tired he just did not like the idea of holding still. He eventually decided to lie down on his own, and then he fell asleep.

I think I’m going to go browse a few websites.

Well, today I played in my first-ever softball tournament! Our team was comprised of four Arndts (Paul, John, Jude and myself) and seven other guys. Our first game was at noon, and our first opponent was Tiny’s.

In Game One, I batted third and played right-center. My first at-bat, I walked. Second AB, popped out to right field. Third AB, popped out to the infield. Yuck. Tiny’s cleaned our collective clocks, and we ended up losing 22-8 in five innings. I batted a feeble 0-2, though I did walk and ended up scoring on a grand slam by Dave, our first baseman.

Since we lost Game One, it meant that we played at 7:00 to attempt to stay alive in this double-elimination tournament. Basically, two losses and you’re gone. After the loss, Paul, John, Jude and I decided to drive over to Cici’s in St. Louis to drown our sorrows in pizza and cinnamon rolls.

After Cici’s, we waddled (well, drove) back home. I did some scoping for a little while, and then as our 7:00 game approached, Jude and I walked back to our softball field. I asked him if he would pitch me a few softballs so I could try to correct my swing in time for tonight’s game and hopefully contribute a bit more than I did in the first game. Jude happily agreed, and he tossed me a good 20 or 30 pitches. I’m pleased to report that I hit the ball very well and very hard.

With my newfound confidence in my softball swing, we headed to Citizen’s Park for the second game, this one against Buzz. I hit much better, pulling two line drives to right field for singles. I also popped up once, but I finished 2-3 for the game. Unfortunately, our team’s hitting woes continued, as we managed to only plate five in the game. We played pretty solid defense, but Buzz eventually pulled away with a six-run sixth inning, and the game ended there, with the score of 15-5.

Sorely disappointed by our early elimination from the tournament, we decided to drown our sorrows in ice cream, and then soda. After that, I drowned some more sorrows in a cinnamon roll. And, to top it off, I decided to drown that final sorrow a little while ago with a sliced-up Golden Delicious apple. (By the way, I picked “drowned our sorrows” because it sounds much better than saying, “We decided to pig out here. Then we ate there. And then we got ice cream.” Clever, no? To be honest, we weren’t really crushed by the losses. Sure, we wanted to win so we could keep playing in the tournament, but Tiny’s and Buzz simply outplayed us. They were the better team on the field. And we still had fun. It was a learning experience!

Well, that about does it, I reckon. It’s time to call it a night. =)

Oh, by the way — I implemented yet another handy feature on my blog (take that, Xanga!). It’s the feature to view one single entry! At the bottom of each entry, there’s the link “[View Only This Entry>.” If you click that, it will show only that entry. So that way, it makes finding (or bookmarking/saving) a given entry much, much simpler! For instance, if you want to send somebody to the “Excellence” entry, all they would have to do is go to this URL: http://www.famteam.com/subdomain-luke/index.php?view=412

Give it a shot! I think it’s pretty practical.

A brief update. I’m in the living room, typing on my laptop. What’s strange is that I’m forced to be plugged into the wall at the moment since Dad has the wireless router with him on his trip with Mom. It’s not a big deal, but I just have to remember to carry a network cable around if I want to move the laptop and get online. I’m definitely thankful that we went to the trouble of wiring this house for networking!

I’m in the middle of baby-sitting. Earlier tonight, Mary-Elizabeth was on my laptop. She had asked me if she could type an e-mail to Mom and Dad, who are currently in Virginia. I was more than happy to oblige, so Wizzy hopped on the couch and started writing. I was surprised at how well she did! She has good grammar and spelling, especially for an eight-year-old.

About the subject — one of the features I added recently is a “location” feature, where I can enter in my whereabouts during a given entry. Well, this is my first entry from anywhere but my attic room since I’ve created the little add-on. So here’s my chance to do a test run! It probably won’t have a whole lot practical use except for when I’m writing while on the road — for instance, during a vacation.

Well, I’m going to go. David is playing with a bungie cord, and he seems to be getting a little bit flustered by it. We finished watching the Veggie Tales “Star Of Christmas” show, and since then David’s been pretty restless. So I’d better run!

There has been something on my mind lately, and I’ve decided I’m going to write about it. For the past little while, one word has just been coming to me over and over: excellence. I think we’ve all heard the Army’s slogan of “Be all that you can be,” but I think we tend to get complacent very easily and oftentimes don’t reach our potential in many areas of our life.

The first and most important of these areas would be our walk with God. Our awesome God has called us to quite the standard: Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

Now, we, as humans, are a sinful race. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) How then can we be perfect? If everyone has already “blown” their shot by sinning, then isn’t it too late? Not so.

See, I believe that God knows how we’re made (He does; He made us!). Even though on our own we can never achieve perfection, He set that high standard for us to pursue, to strive for. And I believe that what He wants from us — despite our blemishes and definite imperfection — is for us to be giving our all, doing our best to be perfect. We’re not going to always succeed, but I think we need to have that mindset and to never fall into the trap of thinking, “Oh, well, I’m pretty good already.” We need to realize what a high standard God has for us, and we need to give it our all to try to meet that.

I think it’s very easy to make the mistake of brushing off a flaw, a bad habit or a “hang-up” or ours and justifying it by saying, “Hey, I’m human. Give me a break. We’re all sinners anyway, and X, Y and Z just happen to be my sins.” That, in my opinion, is really arrogant. We’re not allowed to select our three favorite sins and hold on to them. God knows our hearts, and He knows what our true goal is. Are we feverishly trying to smoke out any hint of sin? Or are we trying to hang on to a few?

We still will be imperfect even if we are honestly trying to obey God in every situation. We are humans and we’re bound to mess up now and then. My whole point, though, is we can’t allow that and be satisfied with it! You can’t think, “Oh, surely I can do this sin.” At the same time, realize that God does forgive! So don’t beat yourself up too much if you realize, “Oh, my goodness. I’m such a sinner! It’s hopeless!” There’s a saying that I really like: “Expect perfection. Accept imperfection.”

If we are always striving to please God in every situation, I think we’re on the right track, even though we might slip and fall at times. What it all boils down to is where your heart is. I think it’s very dangerous and reckless to live life any way other than pursuing holiness and wanting to please God in every situation.

For the record, I’m a sinner! I need to read and take these words to heart as much as anybody out there. Don’t think for a second that I’m saying, “Hey, look at me!” I’m saying, “Hey, look at Him!” “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1)

No matter how many times you’ve fallen short, God can forgive you and you can start anew. I would just strongly encourage you to do everything you can do live your life so that it honors and glorifies our incredible God.

It’s true! Tonight, I batted 1-4 with a strikeout. Understand, people, that this is slow-pitch softball we’re playing. People don’t strike out. Well, it’s rare, anyway.

So how did I earn the K? Well, it was a called third strike — meaning I didn’t swing; rather I took the pitch. The umpire thought it was a strike and thus called me out. I honestly thought it was quite a bit too high, but I walked back to the dugout. I suppose I wasn’t too far off, though, because after the game, the umpire told me that he probably shouldn’t have called it a strike and that it was a bit high. Ah well. It’s tough to waste an at-bat like that, but that’s just part of the game!

Thankfully, we won tonight, by a score of 13-3, despite my continuing sub-par hitting. I’m just popping quite often. My problem may be that I’m standing too close to the pitcher, and so where the bat meets the ball is pretty high, making it very hard to avoid popping the ball up. Who knows! This weekend, some of us are playing in a softball tournament, so I’m thinking it will be a good time for me to turn things around!

In about 90 minutes or so, Mom and Dad will be taking off for a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia. I am so excited for them, especially Mom! She has been really longing for a trip, and she has just been so giddy and full of excitement as she and Dad have prepared for this trip. It’s so awesome to see!! Mom and Dad sure deserve this break!

Well, it’s very late and I’m very tired. So I’m going to go to very sleep.

We don’t play softball on Wednesday nights, but tonight Paul and I subbed for a team at a park in Freeburg, Illinois. A friend of ours, Josh, called looking for a couple of players. Paul and I agreed to play, and we decided to visit the east Belleville YMCA before the game for a brief workout. I hadn’t been to the Y in a while due to busyness and, umm, lazyness.

The workout went well. A little too well, almost! I did a lot of arm, shoulder and chest exercises, but by the time I got to playing in the outfield, my throwing arm felt like spaghetti! Ah well. Thankfully, it didn’t really affect me that much, even though I couldn’t throw quite as hard as I can normally.

Also at the Y, I ran a mile on the treadmill. It actually only took right over six minutes, as I was moving pretty quickly! To my surprise, I was able to keep up with 12 miles per hour on the treadmill. It wasn’t long before that tired me out, but at least I didn’t lose my footing and get catapulted across the gym… or something.

By the way, today Dad, Mom and John went over to Busch Stadium in order to interview Reggie Sanders for the Safe At Home TV Show. I watched a couple minutes of the interview, and it looks to have turned out wonderfully! I really like Reggie. He’s a very humble and considerate guy. I sure hope he’s able to make it out to Laderman Park again this summer for the Softball Classic! It was awesome to have him and Ray King there last year. They were terrific!

Well, that does it for now. Until next time — so long!

In this morning’s edition of the Belleville News-Democrat (and on various St. Louis-area news websites), there was a story about a fatal accident that took place in nearby Smithton, Illinois. Three 18-year-olds, who had graduated from Freeburg High School just hours prior, had somehow gotten involved in a single-car crash, and one of the passengers died. The driver was, evidently, the recent prom king from Freeburg. The female passenger was the prom queen and cheerleading captain at Freeburg High School, and she was the one who was killed in the accident. The third rider was another guy. I think one of the guys is in serious condition; the other critical.

I didn’t know any of the three people involved in the accident, but it really hits close to home to hear about something like this happening. I think about back to January of this year, when we learned a new friend of the family’s, Elizabeth, had died in an accident. I just feel for this other girl’s (her name is Jennifer, by the way) parents, family and friends. Please be praying for everyone involved as they deal with this tragedy.

From what I have read, it doesn’t seem that alcohol played a role in the accident, but the police do believe that speed may have. I don’t know that we’ll ever know for sure what the cause was, but it just makes me all the more want to exercise safe driving habits. 99.9 percent of the time, it might not matter. But for that fraction of a percent when it could matter, I want to have every possible advantage I can have. I don’t want my life (or anyone else’s, for that matter) to be cut short due to careless driving — or simply lack of vigilance. So this just all the more makes me want to be as safe and smart as I can be. Because even then, there still are going to be drunk drivers out there; there still are going to be hazardous conditions. I want to at least do everything that I can to be safe. The rest, I figure, is in God’s hands. I don’t mind going whenever He says it’s time; I just don’t want irresponsibility to be the cause.

Anyway, please keep praying for Jennifer, her family, friends and the family and friends of the other two guys! Pray that God would comfort everybody and give them an incredible peace through this tough time. God is faithful!

Finally, a message to you. Be careful! If not for you, then for your passengers or the car across the yellow stripe. It can be fun to zip around and stuff, but it’s stupid if you’re just being dangerous. Be smart; drive carefully.