Dear Grandkids,
We are getting ready to start the BEST week of the year – at least from my perspective. I can think of at least 4 reasons why this week is so good.
Baseball is back – Opening Day this year is March 29 which is a few days earlier than usual. It has been about 5 months since the Astros beat the Dodgers for the World Championship. In the meantime we’ve had to put up with a lot of football and basketball but now we can finally get back to the greatest of all the sports. You may or may not know that baseball was and is my first love of sports. I played a lot of baseball growing up and was a huge fan of the New York Mets. They were in the World Series as recent as 2015. Last year was not so good but this week we start fresh and hopefully watch something amazing happen.
The Final Four – Unfortunately none of the teams that I root for made it to the Final Four this year. Duke came the closest – they were just a roll away from making it – but there is always an intriguing story line that makes the Final Four interesting. This year it is with Loyola Chicago and their number # 1 fan Sister Jean. Only one team will be left standing after Monday night and they will have earned the right to call themselves National Champions. Then we will say goodbye to college hoops for about 8 months.
The Masters – As much as I love baseball, The Masters is my favorite sporting event of the year to watch. This is probably because I grew up near the course and had a chance to go to The Masters in person more times than I can count. The Masters is never without drama which makes it so exciting and this year has promise to be as dramatic as any of them. I hope that as you get older we can spend a Sunday afternoon of Master’s week sitting and watching the tournament together and letting me tell you about some of my favorite memories. (I have blogged about these elsewhere if you want to check them out)
Easter – As much as I enjoy the first 3, this last one is what truly makes this week the best week of the year. Sunday is Easter – the day that we celebrate as Christians the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Without the resurrection there would be no Christianity. 1 Corinthians 15:17 says, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” The resurrection changes everything. It gives us hope. It proves that Jesus is who He says He is. It strengthens us with the same power that raised Jesus. It enables us to live as overcomers. It fuels us with joy even while living in a world full of darkness and despair.
I hope you thoroughly enjoy this next week as much as I will. But then I enjoy every week… and I hope that you do too.
Never ever forget that you are very very loved!
Pop Pop
