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Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
by Tom Kelley
When I first took up the sport of golf I was given an old set of clubs by one of the elders of the Bainbridge (OH) Church of Christ. The parsonage for the church bordered on an open field which ultimately became my driving range. However, I didn't have enough golf balls to be able to stand there and hit them for any length of time before having to go looking for them.
It wasn't until we moved to the Wilmington, Ohio area that I had the opportunity really hit golf balls. I played a round of golf at a local golf course and, during that round, found close to fifty balls that golfers had not bothered to recover. Many golfers will give themselves unlimited mulligans in order to have a good score and leave the bad shots where they lie without any effort to look for them. During subsequent rounds at that local course I amassed enough balls that I had enough to stand and hit for a little bit.
Behind the New Antioch Church of Christ parsonage was a field owned by a local farmer who said I could hit balls there and look for them until his crops started coming into their own. So I would hit a couple hundred balls every evening and then drive over to the church and go retrieve the balls (as many as I could) before dark. I learned to hit a golf ball by committing myself to practice. Over the years I have found that practice is the key to improvement coupled with teaching. The two lessons I have had were all I could afford. Practice is a matter of commitment not cost.
That transfers rather dramatically to the Christian walk. Every day we go to the same job and do the same things with the same people. Drudgery has a way of negating commitment. Instead of looking at the repetitiveness of your existence, look at the challenge. It may be the same job and the same people, but it is a different day with different opportunities. Set your commitment to the Lord for that day that you might be swept away by God's blessings for that new day to be special for both you and Him.
"The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9 When we make the commitment to stand for Him in the workplace He steps in and makes the rest His task through us by the Holy Spirit. That daily practice of the same job with the same people at the same place for the same time suddenly becomes new opportunities for personal growth and evangelism.
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...He was the Minister of the Minorsville Christian Church located near Stamping Ground, KY.
...Becky and Tom have three children; John, single and in worship ministry in Nicholasville, Kentucky; Sean, married (Jennifer, elementary school teacher) with twins (Grace and Patrick, b.d. 10/31/04) and regional director of Papa John's Pizza in Central KY; Kara, married (Vince Taylor, prison guard) and working with Hospice East in Winchester, KY.
...Tom went to be with the Lord on November 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer. If you have been touched by Tom's writings please send an email to Tom's son at jkelley@catalystchristian.net
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