Batter Up!

Batter Up!

As a young girl, I collected baseball cards.  Well, I guess I did.  I don't really remember collecting them, but as you'll see, there's evidence that I did...

In 1976, my parents were called to work in the Washington DC temple.  This was a very humbling experience for both them and their daughters.  They were prepared to spend the rest of their lives working there, and made the necessary arrangements to sell their home and its contents.  Some things were sold at garage sales and some things were stored at my sister, Betty's home.

Sister Betty had a huge attic that was about the size of their home they were selling.

Fast forward several years.  My mother had passed away.  My dad had returned to Washington to work as long as he was able. 

Kerry and I had moved to our current home and were raising our children.  Money was tight on several occasions, but we always seemed to make it through with lots of prayers and hanging on with faith.

But one day, things got serious.

I had made Cream of Wheat for breakfast for the kids before they left for school.  Instead of doing the breakfast dishes right away, I decided to wait until later. 

Big mistake.

I noticed that the water in the toilets seemed a bit oily, but I didn't think too much about it and left to run some errands.  When I returned, I began to do the dishes, but the water came out of the spigot with an oily film.  Then...there was no water at all.

Our water pump had gone out.

I called the people that had installed the original pump and they came to our house to confirm it and give us an estimate.  It would be approximately $2500.  Oh, my goodness!  How in the world would we ever have enough money for that???

But, for some reason, we felt we should tell him to go ahead and install the new one.  I was a bit apprehensive, but Kerry felt good about it.

The Cream of Wheat on the dishes had turned to concrete.  I took everything out to the deck and let the rainwater fill do the job of softening it up.  As I stood out there arranging the dishes, my tears matched the number of raindrops.  We went into emergency mode and used paper/plastic plates and utensils, took "spit baths" with water storage, and made do.

They came to replace the pump the next morning, giving us ten days to pay for it.

As I watched them, I just didn't know how it was all going to work out.  Meanwhile, my sisters became aware of the dilemma.  Sister Betty told me to hang on and not ask for any loans.  I told her we would probably have to - but she was adamant that we not do that.

She had noticed something in the attic where my parents' belongings were stored.  She went back to look for it, and took it to a friends' business.

It was an entire shoebox full of baseball cards from the 1960's - the kind you get a big stick of gum with.  She took the box to her friend, and was given an estimate.

The estimated value of the pump was $2500.  The value of the baseball cards was $2498!  We would have enough - with $2 left over!!

I don't have any memory at all of collecting those baseball cards - yet they were mine.  They were saved all of these many years.  Mom and dad could have easily thrown them out. 

But, the Lord knows the end from the beginning.  He knew that someday down the road, Miss Peggy and her little family would have need for those cards, and that they would have value.  And because of that, the pump was installed, water was restored, there was no debt incurred, and our faith was strengthened.

He does look out for us!