My grandparents were huge Cincinnati Reds fans. They lived in West Milton, Ohio, which is about 70 miles north of Cincinnati. They loved going to the games at Riverfront Stadium (pre-Cynergy Field, pre-All American Ballpark), but when they couldn’t, they would watch the games on television or listen to Marty and Joe call the games on the radio. My Grandpa Doles would always have a baseball scoring pad to score each of their games. I will never forget as a young girl (really, really young girl) hearing Grandpa rail against Pete Rose because he didn’t like all of his cockiness.
Now, my Grandma Doles had bad knees. Years ago, instead of doing a total knee replacement surgery, they opted to remove both of her kneecaps. Not surprisingly, this affected her knee range of motion and performance. I remember one time going to a game at Riverfront Stadium with my grandparents. The steps seemed to be very steep, and the only way my grandmother could climb them was to position her body sideways and lean down the steps so that her upper leg would raise up enough to clear the step. One-by-one, she would take the steps in this way until we would reach our seats in the upper section. She didn’t complain, and she didn’t think it was any kind of big deal. But even as a little girl, I could tell that it was quite an ordeal for her to attend the game.
In our sermon series, “Heading for Home,” it is all about staying in the game. The words of Joe Nuxhall, “This is the ole left-hander, rounding third and heading for home,” meant that he was still in the game. He wasn’t done. He was still giving it his all intent on scoring. My grandmother gave her all to attend the game, and I think it was representative of the way she lived her life. She did what she needed to do to overcome obstacles. After her knee surgery, she found a different way to climb stairs. When my grandfather – who had done all the driving between the two of them for years – developed Alzheimer’s and finally went to live in a nursing home, my grandmother started driving again to be able to go and see him almost every day.
There will be circumstances in life that place obstacles in our paths. There will be stairs that we need to climb. Don’t give up – stay in the game. If you find that your life has changed, and you are struggling, try leaning into God – it might be the best way to climb ahead.
Rev. Wendy Lambert, Senior Executive Pastor
