Post 17, Where Are You?

So it's been almost a month since I last blogged.  I really wanted to do blogs 3 times a month, but things happen.  So what has been so important in the life of GBCardGuy that I can't take an hour out of my busy life to blog. The answer...nothing...but don't think that my life has not been busy.  It has...at least busy enough for me to put my internet social life on hold for a little bit.  Saying that, I want to let you into my life a little bit and tell you how God has been active in the past month.

In the real world of GBCardGuy, I separate my life into three distinct categories: Family, Church, Employment.  All 3 categories are branches from a bigger tree that is called "Christ Follower".  To say that I have always been a stellar example of Christ in these three categories of my life would be very false.  I allow frustration and circumstances that are out of my control to dictate my mood, much of time.  Its funny when I say that, because when I let God lead, all of the circumstances are out of my control and strictly in His control.  It is usually when I try to take the control back that my frustration kicks in.

So what has been going on in the family life of GBCardGuy?  My wife and I have decided that we are tired of being Big Daddy and Big Mama and would like to be a much slimmer form of our present selves.  I have always been a larger man.  About 6 years ago, my wife and I went on a trip to D.C. and I knew that we were going to do a ton of walking, so I went on a major diet and started to walk/run on a fairly regular basis.  I called it the "Don't Be Dumb Diet", because everything that I did before that was dumb.  I was really faithful to it for almost a full year, and lost around 85 lbs.  At my lightest, I weighted less then I did my freshman year of high school.  After I lost all of that weight, I found out being dumb was way easier then not being dumb and sadly I am back at the weight I was before.  So I am starting the process again, but this time my wife is doing it with me and hopefully we can keep each other accountable.  Also we upgraded vehicles.  Car shopping is something that I try to avoid.  I know some people love it, but not me.  I have only had to do it twice in my adult life.  I own a 1998 Ford Ranger pickup that my dad gave me when I got out of college.  Well a truer statement would be, he had me take over the payments.  It is still running pretty well, but its starting to show its age.  I am dreading the day that it finally dies.  We try to be very financially savvy with our money and we know that a car payment is not very feasible for our budget.  3 years ago we traded my wife's(the family) car, which was completely dead and got a 1997 Ford Explorer.  I know...it was new when I graduated high school, but I digress.  Well it finally made its last family trip and we upgraded to something in the 2000.  2007 to be exact.  We had been blessed with the ability to pay cash and so far we are very pleased with the new member of our family.  My kids were so excited because we "let them" have a say in which vehicle we got.

My Church life is also very busy.  I alternate every month in being the music leader at my church, which I am enjoying.  I love the men and women that I have the privilege of worshiping with and making music with on a weekly basis.  Especially the hand and auxiliary percussion player(a.k.a. Big "soon to be slimmer" Mama), she's pretty hot if I say so myself.  I have also entered into the elder mentoring process at my church.  Me and another gentleman are meeting regularly with the elders of the church, studying a book and doing a workbook on biblical eldership.  I am not a sit down and read type of guy.  I don't get lost in good books easily.   I have enjoyed studying this series, but reading to me is a chore.  I think that God puts things in our path that we know are important, but we also know to get His desired outcome we have to do things, that normally in our flesh, we don't necessarily enjoy.  It is a purification process.  Are we willing to submit to Him to achieve His purposes?

My work life is probably where it has been the craziest.  I work for a small mom & pop music store.  After working there for 14 years I have been given a new title.  I am now the Sale Manager.  What does that mean?  Apparently more work and responsibilities.  :-)  I am enjoying my new title.  I am approaching this title of management in the same way that I am approaching the job of elder at the church.  An elder is an overseer, teacher, protector, and mentor and in my mind that is what a manager is suppose to be too.  I know that the two promotions in the work force and at the church, coming pretty much at the same time, was not a coincidence.  I stop believing in coincidences many years ago.  Gods timing is perfect.  Well in the last 3 weeks we have had one of the people that I manage quit and we are currently looking for a new employee and I have been very active in the interview process.  I feel honored that my boss has the confidence in me to be involve in this big decision.  But saying that, because of all of the excitement of the last couple weeks I really have not had the time to focus on the Ebay sales and in that area of my employment I feel very behind.  The problem is, when that area of the store gets untouched it starts to pile up, overflow and disrupt the flow of the entire backroom.  I am praying that God brings not only the right person, but quickly too.

Rarely have I seen, while in the present, parallelisms between what God is doing in my work life and church life.  While I try to be the same guy in both, I tried keep them separate.   God is showing me more and more that He is the same God while I am at both church and work and I should be a the same follower for Him at both places too.

Well that is a small look at the current "what's going on" in the life of GBCardGuy.  You might have noticed that "The Unofficial George Brett Card Database"  was not listed as one of my branches.  That's because as I said in my first post, when there is time and money left, I am a collector.  Saying that, I have recently updated the website with some new cards and have some more new cards coming that I will be uploading in the next couple of days.  One of which, just arrived today all the way from South Korea.  I really should look where certain cards are coming from before I order them.  Also, I eluded to a Top Ten in my last post about being content.  I haven't forgot about it and I am hoping to get it out in the next couple of days,  But for now it is late and this guy is ready for bed.  Goodnight!

Race to 1000...The 3 Month & 9 Days Late Revised Edition

It finally happened.  This morning I uploaded my 1000th George Brett card on "The Unofficial George Brett Card Catalog".  The 1000th card that was added was:

2013 Panini Prizm Prizms Red Pulsar #177

A year ago, when I launched this website, I made it a goal to finish with over 1000 cards by the end of 2015.  Well I'm 3 months and 9 days late, but it's finally accomplished.  On the site, I listed a goal to go over 1100 for 2016.  I think I might  revise that to 100 new cards for 2016.  I am on good track for that since I am already 39% of the way there.  

One might say, "wow...1000 cards...how many more does one person need?" In true collector fashion I respond, "At least one more."  1000 cards does seem like a lot.  But when you look at the big picture of George Brett cards, it breaks down to roughly 15% to 20% of all the Brett cards made.  Unfortunately, it is starting to get to the point that the cards not in my collection are costing more.  Luckily every year, at least for the last 4 years, there has been a steady supply on new cards that are fairly low priced to add to the collection, but I have had to raise the amount of money that I am willing to spend per card to continue the collection.  I usually don't spend much more than $3 per card, but the number of cards under $3 is getting smaller and smaller.   I am willing to pay more, if its a particularly good deal and the funds are available.  The later being the most important.  The most I've spent on a single card was my 1975 O-Pee-Chee rookie card, which I spent $32.  The only reason I got it was because it was a great deal and at that time I was also selling cards and had a decent week of sales.

There are cards that I have on my radar to get, but I also know that there are cards that will probably never be featured on the database.  I like to think that I am content with that, but I struggle sometime with being content.  Surprisingly, when I am discontent, I generally make decisions that are emotionally driven, not thoroughly thought through, and when it is all said and done, I'm left unsatisfied.    Why? Because discontentment generally leads to more discontention.

So I ask myself this simple, but very hard question, "Does being a George Brett card collector, automatically make me, at some level, discontent?"  Is there a difference between the want to enlarge ones collection and covetousness.  Covetousness is a word that doesn't get used very much any more.  It means, feeling or showing a very strong desire for something that you do not have and especially for something that belongs to someone else.  Isn't that what a collector is in a nutshell.  In my scripture study I think I have found a couple of principles that has helped me keep my covetousness under control, but still have a desire to collect.

First, I understand through scripture that I came into the world with nothing and I will leave it the same way.  This is a theme we see through out the Bible.  We see it clearly stated in Job 1 and in 1 Timothy 6:7.  When our life is done on this Earth, will we be able to take anything with us from Earth to wherever our eternal destination may be?  The answer is no.  Because of this I need to cherish what ever the Lord has entrusted me with and know that what I have is temporary.

Second, everything I have, has been entrusted to me by God.  This a hard one.  A couple of years ago President Obama made a statement that in a nut shell said, "You didn't build that" which caused a huge uproar with many privately owned, self made businesses.  But there is a lot of truth in that statement.  Sadly not in the way that our president meant for it though.  The truth is that everything that we have, has been given to us by God for us to oversee.  God is the owner and we are the stewards of those things that he entrusted us with.  For me it is my wife, my children, my family(related by blood and by the Lamb), my employment, and also among other things my card collection.  But we just can't do whatever we please with what he has entrusted us with, we are told that we need to invest wisely in the way the owner would want it invested.  There will be a time that He will ask us to give an account to how we used the things that He entrusted us with and we will be either found faith and profitable(not necessarily monetarily) with what he has entrusted us with or foolish.

Third, material items don't make us covetous, our hearts do.  Material items are amoral, meaning that they are neither moral or immoral.  As the definition stated earlier for covetousness, the main phrase is "a very strong desire".  Desire is an emotion, a wanting something so bad that it starts blocking everything else out and it is your main focus.  The only desire that we should have is a desire to be closer to Christ, which I fall short of  many times.  An often misquoted verse is 1 Timothy 6:10, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains."  To get material items, generally money is involved, but money is just another material item.  See how this verse progresses.  First there is the love or desire, you want it emotionally and that is where your focus is.  Then there is cravings.  What are cravings?  Usually there emotions that pop up spontaneously and redirect your focus.  Then the desires and cravings make you completely loose sight of what is truly important.  Then in the end leaves us unsatisfied.

So we have to ask this question, "Why are we desiring this item?" and "What is our desire to do with it once God entrusts us with it?"  As followers of Christ, those are two questions that we need to ask ourselves when we start wondering if we are getting too close to the covetous line. That is one of the reasons that I felt God pushing me to write these blogs.  It is fun to put out a top ten list every once and a while, and I don't plan on stopping that.  In fact(spoiler alert), my next top ten will be dealing with this topic.  But I feel God wanting me to use this blog to tell my story of what he has done in my life.

So the question I asked earlier, "Does being a George Brett card collector, automatically make me, at some level, discontent?"  At time yes.  I do recognize that sometimes it does take my focus away, but because I realize that God is the ultimate owner and I am just the oversee, it helps put things back into proper perspective.  As I said in my last post, I am excited to see were God is going to lead me and entrust me with in this next year.  But for now its late and this guy is ready for bed.  Good night!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary...well, almost...Top Ten Leap Year Cards!

HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY GBCARDGUY!!!

Well almost.  The technical launch day anniversary date is March 1st, but...It's Leap Year.  So in light of having to wait one more day for the anniversary I decided to do a top ten George Brett cards that were released on leap years.  These will be in chronological order.   The front and back of all of the cards and almost 1000 other George Brett cards can be seen on my website "The Unofficial George Brett Card Catalog".  My top ten lists, unless otherwise stated, are limited to cards that I currently own.  The lists are strictly base on my opinion.  Cards might be listed because they have some memorable back story, cool design, or something that simply sticks out, too me, about them.  Feel free to comment, I love talking to other collectors. 

1976 SSPC #589 with Al Cowens Checklist

One of George's funniest cards in my opinion.  Not only funny because of Brett's face, but Al Cowen's last name is also misspelled.  I'm sure that this was one of his highlights.

1980 O-Pee-Chee #235 

This card was hard to come by.  I lost at least 3 ebay auctions over a year's span trying to get one of these cards.  Finally, out of frustration I ordered one at a price way higher than I should have pad for it.  A week later I won one on an auction at a fraction of the price that I just spent.  This was a good lesson to me.  If I lose an auction on a card, there is a good chance that another one will show up sooner or later.

1984 All-Star Game Program Inserts #120

Not your typical baseball card.  These cards sized at 1 1/4" x 2", so they are very small.  These came in the All-Star Game program in a panel and were cut into cards.  I like the back designs of these.  

1988 Royals Smokey the Bear #20

This is one of the easier decisions of this list.  If you have read my all time Top Ten George Brett Card List this shouldn't be a surprise.  I love this entire set.  It makes me smile when I see them.       

1992 The Baseball Enquirer  #25

I wasn't going to put this card on this list.  This was a card that I kinda had in my collection because it just another card.  I was just now going through all  my 1992 cards and saw the back of this card for the first time.  There is a short Q&A session with George Brett and, I would guess, some reporter.  George was known for his quips and this Q&A made me (literally) laugh out loud.  I recommend going to my site and seeing the back.

1996...If you were doing the math, you are probably saying, "Wouldn't there be 11 leap years since 1976?"  Well unfortunately, I do not have a 1996 card.  As far as I can tell, there wasn't a Brett card made in 1996.

2000 Fleer Club 3000 #GB 

If this was a regular century mark, there would not be a leap year, but since it was a millennium...science says there's also a leap year.  There something about die-cut cards that I really like.  Something about not being the traditional rectangular, sharp cornered cards that intrigues me. 

2004 Leather & Lumber Hall of Fame #3

This card is one of the newest cards added to the database.  I have really turned my attention to this era of cards from 2002 to 2005.  There are a lot of interesting cards from this era.  I have picked up several serial numbered cards here recently.  This one is numbered 1683 of 1999.  

2008 Topps Triple Threads #53

This is another recent entry, entered in December.  I only had 2 2008 cards to choose from.  Tough decision.  Had to go with the Topps though.  I like the design and it's also a serialized card.  The Triple Threads cards are fun to collect.

2012 Topps Archives Cloth Stickers #GB

This is starting in the era when I got re-started collecting again.  My #4 card on my all time Brett card list is the 1977 Topps Cloth Sticker card. This is a remake of it.  Like the 1980 OPC card, I learned a very valuable lesson about this card.  That lesson was: when a brand new card comes out...don't try to buy it right away.  Wait a week or even a month, The price will probably drop a little.  I decided to get in a biding war with another buyer and won, but spent way too much money.  Oh well.  

2016 Topps - Berger's Best #BB-24

Up to the present, Finally! Against siting my All Time Top Ten Card list, the 1975 Topps/OPC card is my favorite all-time card.  Every time they come out with a remake, I try to add it to my collection.  This set is a nice tribute to Sy Berger, one of Topps original card designers.

Well, year 2 is shaping up to be another great year.  I do not know where God will lead me, but I'm ready for the ride.  But for now, it's late and this guy is ready for bed.  Good night!

  

It finally feels like 2016

The new cards are here!
The new cards are here!
The new 2016 George Brett cards are here!

2016 Topps Berger's Best #24 & #39

So I had to Google who Berger was.  Sy Berger was one of the original Topps designers of cards in 1952 and this 65 card set is as Topps puts it, "A nod to him".  I can understand the classic look and the importance of the 1975 card, but I yet don't see the importance of the 1990.  I know he won the batting title this year, but still wouldn't of called this a "best".  They also made a 1987 Bo Jackson one that I will probably pick up at some time.  For the last couple of years I ask myself if it is worth continuing to collect George Brett cards.  Then every year they come out with some more and keep my interest up.  For the last couple years I eagerly wait February to see if Topps or Panini puts out any new George Brett cards and so far there has not been any let down.  If there is ever a year in the future, like 2011 or 2009, where there really wasn't very made GB cards made and the ones that were are very rare, I might hang it up for a while.

There is not to many things that I eagerly wait for.  I try to live a pretty content life and so I don't get to eager very often.  New cards are one exception.  Another exception is part of my job.  One of the many parts of my job is selling musical items, usually vintage, on ebay.  I can get pretty nerdy when talking about old drums, saxophones and other musical instruments.  I make up stories in my head of the history of the instruments and now I am a part of this instrument's history.  When I put them on ebay for a week auction I eagerly wait for those last seconds to tick off the clock and see what the final bid is for these treasures.  I have been doing this for long enough that I rarely ever get surprised any more, but sometimes the ending bid amount totally shocks me.  Many times in a good way, but sometimes way under what I thought it would sell for,  

I'm sure we all have main things in our life we are eager about.  My last post I wrote about a perspective that I have started looking at when it comes to my relationship with Christ and my relationship with the world.  Understanding that God is in control and, for starter, I am not.  Just like Daniel knew that even though he was forcibly engulfed in the Babylonian culture he knew that he was still an Israelite, and that was his home and his time in Babylon wasn't permanent.

As a follower of Christ I have also come to the understanding that this world in not my home.  Do I live here?..Yes.  Am I engulfed in the cultures of this world (even sometimes forcibly)?..Yes.  But am I a citizen of this world or am I a citizen of Heaven?  For me its Heaven.  I know that my time on this earth will one day come to an end, everyone's will. Does that mean that I do not care about what is happening on this world?  No, I care very much, because it is my current residence.   God has entrusted me with a beautiful wife and 2 wonderful children, one who is turning 11 tomorrow, that rely heavily on me.  God has entrusted me with a vocation that is working with coworkers and clients on a daily basis.  God has put so much before me that he has entrusted me with, that I do not have the time and frankly the desire to focus a ton of my attention on things that he hasn't entrusted me with.  Many of those things I keep myself aware of, but they don't dominate my life.  Do I, as in Philippians 3:20 say, eagerly wait for my savior to take me home.  Yes, but in the mean while I'm still here, I know that I have not fully fulfilled all of His plans for me.  That is something that excites me, that God has more for me to do on this Earth.  But for now my bed is eagerly waiting for me to go lie down.  Its late and this guys is ready for bed...Good night!

The voting is done and the blizzard is currently winning

Because of the white powdery stuff covering my sidewalks and my desire not to scoop it all off right now, I'm making a executive decision to show case one of my newest cards collected.

2014 Topps Gypsy Queen - Framed White #185

Looking out my window you can also say that it is "framed white", but with a lot more speckled white inside of it.
So I live in Iowa and once every four years, people in the USA(ok, really it only Washington D.C.) seem to care about whats going on in Iowa.  Politicians do and say everything they can to make us think that they care.  To be fair, I think that there are several that do care.  But now that the caucuses are done, they leave and go on to the next state and Iowa is mainly just a faint memory to most of the candidates,  I'm cool with that.  Iowans are a people that band together when things get tough.  We don't throw out a lot of blame and when disaster strikes, we band together and help rebuild, usually without any national attention.  As for me, I keep a watchful eye on what's going on in the political field, but don't let it rule my life.  It wasn't always like that.  I used to have to keep my eye on the national news and watch or listen to certain interpreters of the new.  Yes, I said interpreters.  If you have read my last couple of post, I am a follower of Christ.  Am I always the shining example I should be? No.  But I thank God that he is chipping away everything that doesn't look like Him more and more everyday.  So the balance between politics and my relationship with God is something that I have struggled with. Mainly because I use to think God took a passive roll in politics and it frustrated me.  Why were people that appeared to me to be very ungodly and against Yahweh getting into power all over the world.  A couple of years ago I made the decision that God wasn't passive, but very active, but we weren't able to understand why he was doing what he was doing.  We had to just live by faith, but recently I started reading through Daniel and I think God has revealed a couple of things to me with the help of some very studied scholars. In the first 2 verses of Daniel it states "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. The Lord handed Jehoiakim king of Judah over to him, along with some of the vessels from the house of God. Nebuchadnezzar carried them to the land of Babylon, to the house of his god, and put the vessels in the treasury of his god."  There are three points that I have taken out of these verses that has changed a lot how I look about how God works.  1st it states that the Lord handed Jehoiakim to Babylon.  Meaning that it wasn't that Babylon won the battle, God gave Israel to them.  There are also other numerous verses that state that kings and rulers are put into the positions they have by God.  So first thing I take from this is that God is in control of who's in control.  That is both a scary and comforting thought,  2nd thing, why is God doing this to his chosen people and not laying judgement down on Babylon?  Simply, God disciplines and redirects His own children, before destroying the enemies of His children.  Babylon was destroyed, but much later.  Israel had fallen so far away from Him, that he needed to discipline and redirect them back to Him.  God states very clearly in scripture that God will put his children trough times of trials and discipline us.  It is one of the ways to know that we are His,  3rd thing I got from the passage is about how Nebuchadnezzar took some of the items from the temple, but most of it was destroyed.  What I get from this is, God will preserve that which hasn't fully fulfilled God's purposes.  We read in Ezra that the current king gave those items back to Israel to put back into the new temple.  Which makes me not hold on to things to tightly and treasure what God has entrusted me with.

 I think if Christians understood these 3 principles:
1. God is in control of who's in control
2. God disciplines and redirects His children, before destroying His children's enemies
3. God will preserve that which hasn't fully fulfilled His purposes
it will change their perspective about the life that God has given them.  The ultimate question is are we as Christians comforted by the understanding that we are under the rule of a fully Sovereign God? It will change how we look at everything: Politics, education, occupation, and basically life in general.

I said in the last post that I don't consider myself lucky any more, but blessed.  God is showing me that more and more everyday.  Luck had nothing to do with where I am today.  But it is late and I need to get up early tomorrow shovel the blizzard away from my sidewalks.  I am hoping that someone will snow blow them for me.  We'll see if God chooses to blessed me in that way.  If not, oh well, God is still very good.  But for now it's late and this guy is ready for bed.  Good Night!

My Top Ten Favorite George Brett Cards from 1975-1979

I have not let it be a secret that 1975 is my favorite Topps set.  I might be a little bias because it is George Brett's rookie year, but I like the design more than anything.  The two-tone color background was drastically different than anything before it or after for quite a while.  There are other things that stand out about this set that makes it one of the more collected sets, but you can go to baseballcardpedia.com to see that and other great resources about different sets.

Several of my favorite cards come from this era of Brett's career.  You can see all the cards from 1975 to 1979 here at the 1975-1979 page of "The Unofficial George Brett Card Catalog"  My top ten lists, unless otherwise stated, are limited to cards that I currently own.  The lists are strictly base on my opinion.  Cards might be listed because they have some memorable back story, cool design, or something that simply sticks out, too me, about them.  Feel free to comment, I love talking to other collectors.

My Top Ten Favorite George Brett Cards from 1975-1979

10. 1978 Kellogg's #6

It really could have been a tossup between this one or the 1979 Kellogg's.  It's funny how times has changed,  Back in the 70's it was cool to have a cheek full of chaw.  Not any more.  It is a good reason why they stopped, but I still can't see how anyone thought this was a cool, manly look.  At the same time, I can't see why the leisure suit was ever fashionable either.

9. 1975 Topps #228 

I bet this isn't a surprise that it's on the list, but a surprise why it is so low.  The answer is simple and will be understood as the top ten unfolds.  I have 3 of these cards.  This one is in very good condition, but terribly off centered.  The second one has a crease and the third is in absolutely terrible condition.  I have a long term goal to have one that would qualify for a grade 8 or higher, but that will be unlikely ever to happen.

8.  1976 SSPC #589 

Certain cards just make me laugh.  This is one of those cards for 2 reasons.  1st, what a face!  At least George looks like he is having a good time.  The second is Al Cowens name is spelled wrong.  Makes it a classic.

7. 1979 Topps Comics #9

I know...Not technically a card.  This makes it one of the reasons I like it.  Anything that goes away from the standard cardstock, rectangular style of cards, I'm into it.  Also I find it funny, that even though this is a cartoon drawing, they still added the chaw in his cheek.  

6. 1977 Hostess Twinkies #36 

Surprisingly, It took me a while before I found out about this card.  I learned about it after joining "The Trading Card Database". Side Note, if you are into trading cards of any type, I strongly recommend this site.  This card is similar to the regular hostess except for the back.  It has a black line that symbolizes that it came from individually wrapped Twinkies. Much harder to find, which makes them more valuable.  I got very luck on this one.  For some reason I ask the seller, who listed it as a standard Hostess, to send me a scan of the back  Low and behold, it was a Twinkie card.  It was mine shortly after that.

5. 1978 SSPC #217

Half way done.  I have the full team set of these card.  Sorry George, you can't pull off the wide collar look.  I am still trying to figure out why he is wearing a collared shirt under his uniform.  One of my favorites because I do have the full set and the patience I had to wait to get it.  This set actually has a pre-rookie Willie Wilson in it,  You can see the full set here. 

4. 1975 Topps Mini #228

If you are still wondering why was #9 so high on the list, here is one reason why.  I like the mini card better.  According to Baseballcardpedia.com this was the only year that Topps produced a mini card, until 1987, I believe.  It was also only sent to a few test market locations.  Luckily this one is mine.

3. 1977 Burger Chef Discs #71

I decided to put both the front and back of this card.  The back is what I really like and actually it is the backs of the whole set that make this card so high.  The front is not very exciting, but the backs have several different cartoon drawings that are just funny and fun to look at.

2. 1977 Topps Cloth Stickers #7

The cloth sticker card is one of my favorites and one of my most collected cards.  I have several of these.  If you read my variations top ten you would see that there are two different variations.  You can go to my website and see both of them.

Honorable Mentions 

1977 Chilly Willie Discs #7

Mainly because it is fun to say Chilly Willie.

1977 O-Pee-Chee #170

Very similar to the Topps Cloth Sticker card.

1. 1975 O-Pee-Chee #228

Again shouldn't be a surprise that Brett's rookie is my top card.  This OPC card was my top card in my top ten overall all cards.  as I said on that top ten, "Not only is it a rookie card with the classic green and purple background('75 is my favorite Topps set), not only is it an OPC with the white card stock, not only is half of it in French, but also it is a pretty rare card and I still feel lucky to have it in my collection." I still feel that way today, except that I would change one word.  I would switch the word luck, to the word blessed.  More about that later.  For now it is late and this guy is ready for bed.  Good night!

When life give you dilemmas....Do you know who has the water and sugar?

I tweeted a couple of days ago that I got my first George Brett card of 2016.  

Here is it:


1979 Topps with a 2015 Original Stamp.

I know these cards have spurred a lot of controversy in the trading card world.  Is Topps ruining old cards or bringing new life to what were probably never loved cards?  As a Brett collector, which looks at every card with a distinguishing “manufacturer’s” mark as a different entry in the database, I couldn't help but get this card, especially at the price that the seller wanted for it. 

Now here is my dilemma.  Where should I put this card in the database, under 1979 or 2015?  Oh, if life choices were this difficult all the time, think how much life would be easier.  I went back and forth, finally deciding that since it is a 1979 card, that's were it should stay, with a notation of the 2015 stamp.  For me it really wasn't a dilemma, either choice could have been right and there really would have been no negative effects from making either choice.  Except maybe from the collectors that despise these cards, but their beef would have been that I bought it in the first place.

I have been thinking a lot about words & phrases and their definitions lately.  I think the last blog made that clear.  Dilemma is one of those words that meaning has skewed a little of the years. According to merriam-webster.com the simple definition of this word is a situation in which you have to make a difficult choice.  But if you dig deeper in the definition, it really means that none of the choices are particularly beneficial, but the choice still has to be made, that what makes it so difficult.  Most days choices are pretty easy.  What to eat, where to go, or paper or plastic (boy, I must be getting old). In many cases, any choice that we could make, probably would be a right choice.  With dilemma we are always left wondering did I make the right choice.  A lot of times, in the short term, we are left in a lot of doubt.  

Eight years ago I was left with a big dilemma.  My wife and I had an almost 3 year old son and a little girl on the way and our lives got flipped around.  I work full time for the local music store (still do) and worked part time as a music leader at the church that I was attending.  I had been doing it for two years and to say that my time there at that church was all rosy and cheery, that would be a lie.  That church was going through a lot of problems, and my wife, who is one of the smartest people I know (I married up), could see it and if I am being honest to myself, i could see it too.  I had a dilemma: stay there, continue getting paid, hold on to some hope that God had big plans for the church that he just hadn't revealed yet, and be miserable or get out.  Both choices were painful for me.  On one side I was getting a paycheck from them, there are people that were there that I loved dearly, and I have a family that I need to support or on the other side, lose the money, lose a lot of the security I had, lose a lot of dear friends, go find a new church and for the first time in my life not have a church family.  I decided to go with the first choice.  I decided to choose the decision that seemed the most logical.  I'm a logical thinker and try to make most of my decision very logical without putting much emotion into it, sometimes this drives my wife crazy.  But looking back, I made this decision strictly by emotion.  "I can't lose this money!" "What will happen to my family?"  "Will we be able to eat?" "Will we be able to pay rent?"  All of these questions I answered emotionally and, looking back, very selfishly.  You see, there are two people that I never consulted about it.  One is my wife and the other more importantly being God.  I tried to hide the stress that I felt I was under from my wife (I am not a great actor, so it wasn't hidden very well) and it put a big stress on our relationship.  But more important, I had turned my ministry into a job, instead of turning my job into a ministry and left God completely out of all decisions, because I wanted control of my life and my outcomes, no matter who it may hurt.  Well, as I have said in previous posts, God has a way of sometimes taking the reins and screeching you back in the direction that He wants you to go in.  I use to say that I was relieved of my duties at the church, but now I say that God put it in the hearts of those elders to fire me, because He had bigger plans for me that did not involve that church.  God has done a lot of refining me over the last eight years.  I am nowhere close to being done, there still a lot of imperfection.  By God's grace and His discipline I look more like him now than I did 8 years ago.  

You might have scratched your head with the title of this blog.  I can't remember who said it, but "when life give you dilemma, make dilemonade."(Corny, I know)  If you are in Christ, there is a possibility that the dilemma that you are in is strictly a time of God's refinement on your life, that he is bringing you through a time of purification making you more like Him, and it is called the Refiner's fire for a reason, usually there is some pain involved.  The only way to survive it, even if you don't physically, is to know who has the "living water" and bring sweetness to the sourness of life.  

Well it's late and tomorrow is church with the family that has been a part of my family’s life for the last eight years.  So it is time for this guy to go to bed.  Good night!