Today, my son had baseball in the rain. I live in Oregon, so I'm talking serious rain here, friends. I thought the wind was going to lift me and my umbrella right off the cold, wet, metal bleachers.

But I sat there (complained about the weather and the ump's bad calls) and watched that entire game until the umpire finally said, enough. I think they decided thunder and lightening might be dangerous to our health. Metal bleachers ... metal baseball bats. Ouch!

My point ... the conditions were miserable. I could have been in a warm, cozy house with a cup of hot tea. But, oh, no, I had to see my son play. No matter what the cost, there I am day after day, game after game. Nothing gets in the way of me sitting my behind as near to the catcher's plate as I can get.

Why do I go to any length to do this? Because I want to. Yep, it's pretty simple. I want to do it no matter what the cost, no matter what I have to endure.

Hum?

Let's flash to an imaginary scenario. It's a chilly day and a friend has asked me (or you) to help her move. You know it will be a hassle, her kids will whine, and she has a ton of stuff, probably not even packed properly, to drag down her stairs, onto the truck, and into her new home. She really needs help and support. Desperately.

But you don't want to do it even though you know you should. I didn't want to sit in the rain, but boy, oh, boy did I want to watch my son's game. So I did it. He would have been fine had I missed a game. I needed (I mean wanted) my daily baseball fix.

How often do we make excuses because we think something is too difficult or uncomfortable or inconvenient? Yet, when it comes to doing something we want, we'll overcome insurmountable obstacles to do that very thing. Won't we?

This led me to think about Jesus crying out to His Heavenly Father to take this cup (death on a cross) from Him. Jesus was not thrilled about going to The Cross. In His humanness He felt great trepidation about His upcoming ordeal. It appears He would have preferred to do something else, if possible.

But what He wanted more than His own comfort was to obey His Father and save the people (us) that He loved -- people that still hated, doubted, and feared Him. Some people that would never even believe in Him or in the dept that He paid that fateful day so many centuries ago. Yet, He did it anyway. Out of love, He died.

I don't know about you, but I need to get off my lazy fanny and help more, care more, and sacrifice more. When is the last time you sacrificed something you really wanted to do because God had a more important task for you to complete?

Maybe I'm way off base and most of you are joyfully ignoring your own wants and rushing to serve others by doing things you'd prefer that someone else did instead.

Or, maybe, you, like me, need to take some time and evaluate your priorities. Only you know the answer.

Lord, the cry of my heart is to love more. Forgive me for worrying so much about my own wants. Help me instead meet someone elses needs. Amen.

Let us love in light of God's love for us.