Golfing on an off day

On one of our off days in California we got an opportunity to go play golf. One of the guys on our team (Marc) and his host brother (Jeff) took my roommate Tyler and I to go play one of the local courses. It was great to go relax and some of the views were pretty awesome. Here are some pictures from the outing.

Last couple days in California

It has been a really great experience at training camp for the short time I’ve been here in California. It has really been an awesome experience in itself just being able to stay with a host family who represents Christ’s love so well. Our host mom who was pregnant and expecting within the next couple weeks actually went into labor two days before we left. Even in the midst of going into labor she was still quite possibly one of the nicest people I have ever met. The last night we were in Morgan Hill we headed over to San Francisco to watch the Giants play with our host dad. We got to see Tim Lincescum pitch and experience a game in ATT Park. It was a great ending to a great stay in California.

Heres a picture of Tyler and I's awesome host family in California.

Playing Baseball

This isn't a term I've been able to use very much in the last couple of months. Some of you may know but I had an emergency appendectomy and fractured a rib in the beginning part of my college season. I have been side lined for quite a while now and actually just got cleared not too long ago. I was able to play a couple games here in California and it was pretty awesome just to be out there playing the game I love. It will definitely take a lot of hard work to get back in playing shape but I am very happy that my health is back in order. I really enjoy all of my team mates and think we are going to get a long great this summer.

Heres a picture of a field we played at in California and one of my at bats.

  

The Prison Visit

Wow! There's not a better word to describe the experience we were able to have in the prison. I definitely wasn't sure what to expect but I don't think I could of prepared myself for it anyways. When we walked in we instantly stuck out (which I'm sure was because we were all in our baseball uniforms), but attention was immediately drawn to us and the softball field. We began to warm up and get ready for the double header softball games and inmates started to come up to us asking questions about where we were from. I think a couple of the inmates thought we were actually prisoners from another prison coming to play softball. As the game started and the day went out we started feeling more comfortable and having conversations with a lot of the prisoners. We started to learn that these inmates weren't so different than us and everyone else in the world. It really made me realize how often we as a society or even christians can look down on these people in prisons and look at them as lower than ourselves. I certainly did when I entered the prison. It took me coming into their environment and getting to know some of them to learn that I was completely wrong. The reality is that we all make mistakes and the only difference between a lot of those guys and the rest of the world is that they were caught. It made me realize as a christian that God views every single one of those guys the same as the rest of the world. We've all made mistakes and we have all fallen short of the glory of God but He still loves us all the same. Unfortunately it's really easy to jump to conclusions about people and try and write them off as lower than us. I think the truth is we are all really the same and the fact that we have a God who still loves us regardless of the mistakes we have made in our past is pretty awesome.

Heres a picture of Chuck taking a nap on the bus ride back after the game.

Witnessing to a prison

One of the really cool experiences of this summer is that as a team we will be going to a local prison to share our personal testimonies and the gospel with the inmates. We actually play them in a competitive game of softball for most of the time in the prison. Our coach told us we will spend time hanging out with the inmates and play with them in their actual prison. It won't be in a specialized area made for visitations, we will actually be where the prisoners are held. I'm not really sure what to expect but I am definitely looking forward to the experience.

Arriving in California

I just arrived in California for training camp a couple days ago. The city we are staying in is Morgan Hill, California. It's about 30 minutes outside of San Jose. We are going to spend some time here getting ready for our summer in Alaska. We play a few games here against some California summer collegiate teams and also spend a lot of time with discipleship. Everyone stays with a host family here in California and usually with another a player. I am staying with another player named Tyler who is a pitcher from The Masters Academy. We have a really nice host family that has two young kids. They have a little boy named Dominic who is almost 4 and a daughter named Bethany who is almost 2. Our host family mom is also pregnant and expecting in the next couple weeks. We might end up having a new room mate before the trip is over.