A Day where you truly see how blessed you are.

Every Year my family holds a charity golf tournament benefitting the Make A Wish Foundation in our Fathers Name. It is always around the same time in November about a week or so after the anniversary of my dads death.
My Dad died in a freak accident 5 years ago, something that obviously shook me to the very foundation of who i am. Coming up on the 1 year anniversary a few years back my oldest brother had the idea to hold a Golf Tournament every year to honor our Dad, the first year we had just friends and family and co workers and people who knew our Dad. About 75 people played and it was a cool experience. The next year our field grew enough that we were able to give money to a childrens hospital. The last three years we have partnered with the Make A Wish Foundation.(for those who dont know Make A Wish grants wishes for kids with Life threatening Diseases.) Its cool to play a role in being responsible for sending a kid on the ONE thing they want to do if they could.
I gotts give it up to my two older brothers they spearhead this thing and do an awesome job at it , I do a few things here and there whatever they ask me to do but its there show. The Golf Tournament week is a weird week for me , You know its been 5 years but I still Miss my Dad every day, but i have gotten to a place that i can really focus on Good Memories of my Dad and good times and not dwell on the fact that he is gone. That kinda changes for me during Tournament week, its a week where I kind of go into that dwelling on it state of mind. The Golf Tournament day is an awesome day but its also kind of a tough day in alot of ways, I hope that makes sense. There is no doubt though our Golf Tournament has become one of , if not the most important day of the year to me.
So yesterday we held the 5th annual Greg Mitchamore Memorial Tournament and man it looked like the rain was gonna get us, after years of good weather it looked like our luck had run out. Just as it started raining on us , God showed us that he was looking out for us and the sky cleared and we had a great day of golf.
My oldest brother Byron always handles the post tournament duties of speaking and thanking everyone every year. He said something this year that really rang home for while thanking everyone he mentioned that majority of people here , attend the tournament year in and year out with a good portion being there all 5 years. I got to thinking about and he is right , it is truly awesome and a blessing to see all these people show up every single year and come out and give money and show there support. The fact of the matter is in these times most people cant give and alot of just dont want to , but we are blessed with so many people in our lives that defy that and come out and allow us to be successful and brighten up the life of some kids who really need it.
I have no doubt that God has his hand on our tournament every year , I mentioned the weather , the turnout every year , bringing the same people every year. It is really cool to see the different spectrum of people out there whether its old friends of my dad or friends of mine or friends of my brothers you truly see how blessed you are when you try to do something like this and people come out to participate in force!
It's something that i am truly thankful and feel blessed to be a part of. Its also something that i feel truly thankful and am truly blessed by everyone that shows there support. I cant begin to correctly explain what it means to our family , we were blessed to have the Dad we had and we are blessed that all of you help us to do something special every year in his name.

Blessings,
Blake

Team of Destiny?????

The Texas Rangers are the 2010 American leauge West Division Champs how awesome is that??? Sure you can say but the Angels did this, but that , but the bottom line is this was our Year and we won!!!!! The baseball season is so long though do you remember just how this season started???
We began the year with our Franchise being broke, a new owner on the way but we had to go through bankruptcy court first. We were a good up and coming young team , who could have used a little more pitching but didnt have the money to go get it. WE DIDNT HAVE ANY MONEY!!!! The Rangers were so financially strapped that Major leauge Baseball was the money behind the franchise. More on the Ownership situation in a minute.
We had a superstar or so he looked like in 2008 , coming off a terrible injury riddled season, where he had an addiction relapse and just an overall bad year.
Our Manager who had done a solid job since being here , even though you could question some (or alot) of his managerial decisions. Then it comes out that during the previous season he tested positive for Cocaine???!!! Not a player OUR MANAGER!!! who has ever heard of that??? After the admission the players and the front office suprisingly stood behind him.
So lets review we entered Opening Day 2010 with :
1. Ownership situation in Flux , Team in Bankruptcy
2. Can the guy we think is our superstar rebound and prove it??
3. Manager who tests positive for Cocaine.
4. Typical Sketchy Texas Rangers pitching staff.
The Rangers started off a little slow but quickly rebounded and began to play solid ball. Same goes for Josh Hamilton our Superstar , Josh started a little slow but then began to play a level of baseball , that has never been seen before in Texas Ranger Land. He was playing Gold Glove defense in the Outfield, Running the Bases like a freight train all the while heading to .360 batting average 30 home runs and 100 rbi's. Had the injury bug not hit Josh again in September he would have been headed for 40 or more home runs and 120-130 rbi's and an all but guaranteed MVP Award. As it stands now with Josh about to return he still looks like he will win the MVP in the American Leauge.
As far as Ron Washington , He has managed a team who has been in First Place the majority of the season and kept them there. Not only are people not talking about his cocaine admission , it looks like he is headed for a multi year contract extension with a hefty raise!!!! He also looks like one of the front runners for Manager of the Year who would have thought??
The ownership situation was settled in early August, Greenberg and Ryan who agreed in January! to buy the team won the team in bankruptcy court from Mark Cuban and Jim Craine(yea Mark Cuban!!) They were able to do this all the while maintaining a top quality team on the field and making move after move to improve there team, including trading for a bonafide ACE pitcher Cliff Lee , the first time in my almost 29 years that we have had a bonafide top 5 Ace starting pitcher on the Texas Rangers. Our New owners first statement "were gonna go after Cliff Lee" trying to lock him up long term here in Texas. I cant tell you how refeshing that is to hear after years of Tom Hicks money mismanagement and 2 years of being in a top 5 market and being BANKRUPT!!!!!
So our Superstar Emerged, Our Manager was good, We got new Owners who appear to have the team headed in the right direction Basball wise and buisness wise, and we have an Ace starting pitcher.
There may be a team out there who has faced more obstacles , or had the odds more stacked against them, but i dont know of one. Are the Rangers of team of destiny this year?? Honestly I dont know I hope so!!! But even if there not I will be there every step of the way untill this ride stops. Somebody out there has to write a book about this year or make a movie or both the story is absolutely incredible!!!!! One thing is for sure Playoff Baseball is back in Texas hopefully to stay for a long long time!!!!!!!

UK CAMP UPDATE

Well I cant believe it but My time working Camps and serving with YoungLife here is over. But what an awesome time it was!!! I just got to London after being about 4 hours away at a UK Camp. This Camp was very Unique it was both a YoungLife and Wyldlife camp(wyldlife is Younglife's Middle School Ministry) but they ran seperately and concurrently , we ran 2 different camps at the same site at the same time. Which made for alot of fun and alot of hard work.
We did just about every element at a normal camp in the states except we did them all twice!!!! The only things we did with all the kids were meals and , Entertainment Night and the Opera. We did 2 Work Crew Nights , 2 Bonfires we ran 2 clubs a couple of days to be able to get all the messages in , so that meant on 3 days of the camp WE HAD 4 Clubs in a day!!!!
I worked with the Program team which are the guys who provide the comedy and actually pretty much run the entire week . I wasnt actually an upfront character but i worked kinda as the Head Sound Tech so to speak working with the work crew guys who were doing sound making sure they were prepped , knew what they were doing and putting them in a position to succeed. I also helped get leaders ready for entertainment night (which is a night where the leaders who are with kids get up and do skits and shine in front of the kids they brought). It felt really good spending my week working putting people in a place to succeed and by doing that succeeding myself. We worked really hard , I usually went to sleep from anywhere between 1:30- 3:00 am and was up by 7am every day.
There were guys there that have been on staff for the last 20 years plus and they all said that they dont know of any camp every done where Wyldlife and Younglife ran seperately at the same time. so its pretty cool to know i was apart of something possibly never been done before in Younglife's history. Just like Germany they have some great people who have given up life in the states to share the word and show God's love to the kids of the U.K. Wyldlife kids are crazy but alot of fun.
There was another cool thing about this camp , there was a group of Capernum kids there (capernum is YoungLife's Ministry to Mentally and Physically Challenged kids.) These kids were so great and it was really cool getting to love on those kids and seeing them feel so special all week. All the hardwork was rewarded at Say-So(which is YL 's invitation type thing which gives kids the opportunity to stand up and declare they accepted Christ) Out of about 110 and combined campers we had 19 !!! Kids accept Christ at the camp.
This camp was such a perfect way to end this part of my trip , It was by far the most fun i had at any Camp and probably by far the most physically taxing as well. I have met so many awesome people along the way , YoungLife is truly a family and one i definately hope to be apart of for a long time to come. It has been an amazing experience some has been hard , some has been Great , but I wouldnt trade any of it , and its something Ill definately remember for the rest of my llife.

Munich

Hey Guys,

Well Ive been in Munich since Saturday and its been awesome!!!! Munich is an old City its just a little slower and Ive really liked it here , I liked Berlin but i think i Like it here more. Im staying with some friends who are on YL staff here Jim and Terri Hale , Jim is the one who set me up with my trip.
They have been so great , they have put me up , feeding me and not excepting any money from me!! There really great people , Ill be going to the Austria and England Camps with them. There are a lot of American Staff here in Munich , which is really cool althese people have given up life in the States to come over here and spread the Word. They all have came over here and most of them have learned German and are ministering to kids here.
I have had alot of time to rest and relax this week there apartment have these crazy blinds that block out every single bit of a sun , Its like your sleeping in a Dungeon!!! I have woke up at 11 a couple of days and 12 another , Im not kidding its crazy it is so dark , you could sleep the entire day if you tried!!!!
The weather here has been phenominal!!!!! It has been about 65 degrees here every day, the hottest it has been has been 70. I put a jacket on yesterday when we got out at 2 in the afternoon on July 27th. I told Jim i think this may be the first time in my life i have put on a jacket in July!!!
We go to camp Sunday in Austria , in a 700 year old castle in the Alps , it should be amazing!!!!! I will be taking a ton of pictues that week im sure!
I got asked point blank tonight if i was ready to move over here and work here with the staff. It kind of took me off guard but its something that i might not be totally opposed to at some point. Now before any of you freak out , Im not doing it right this minute or anything and its something that would take much prayer and thought before i totally committed. But talking to Jim he made a valid point , that if its something that doesnt totally freak you out then you could do it and should think about it. Honestly
it doesnt totally freak me out , but for right now my heart is with reaching the kids of Mansfield. Even if i did commit it would probably take me a year or more to fund raise the amount of money i would need , the Hale's budget is 200,000 dollars , with the amount of traveling you do and it is very expensive over here. I dont feel thats where God wants me right now , but in the future who knows , I definately like it over here and could possibly see it , but for now like i said My heart is in Mansfield.


Miss everyone
Blake

The Best in the Game

Lately Ive been blogging about my time here in Europe. I was looking at Rangers stuff and this just kinda hit me so here it goes.......

Josh Hamilton is quite an amazing baseball player i think we all see this , he is an amazing person as well. What an amazing story he has , Growing up in North Carolina being a freaky athlete growing up , playing in 11 year old baseball leauges as a 7 year old!!! No.1 Overall Pick out of High School , Most People said would have been a first round pick as a pitcher if he would have came out as that. He was looked at as a future superstar and quite possibly a future transcendent baseball player. He could do it all , Run, Hit , Throw , Hit for Average and Power. He was without doubt what baseball people refer to as a 5 tool player.
Fast Forward a couple of years and he is quickly making his way up the minor leauge ranks then injury hits....... He falls into the pitfalls of drug and alcohol use. Goes in and out of rehab multiple times , is such an addict that he hawks his wife's wedding ring to get money to buy drugs!!!!! After Multiple years of living this way he rediscovers the Lord puts his life back together and gets to playing baseball again.
The Legend goes that he stepped out just to see if he could still play again and he completely Mashed or was hitting great. Had not touched a bat or played for over 3 years!!!

He gets back in the Majors has an ok year for the Cincinatti Reds but it gets cut short by injury. Then he is traded to the Texas Rangers.......
Being a lifelong Ranger fan and a sports geek , I knew a little about his story at least the drug side of it. I was completely unaware of his Faith though. How through shear faith in the Lord he rebuilt his life and himself , restored his relationships with family first and foremost and the Lord rewarded him by not taking away his baseball abilities.
Josh had an amazing first year here , was the media darling and the new superstar on the block. His second year injuries struck again , He had a hickup , he fell short one night and went out and had some drinks , We have all had these nights and we all sin , but his was magnified because of his status as athlete. In his third season here a new season brought new hope and kind of a chance at redemption once again.....
Josh has been nothing short of amazing this year again, Leading the Leauge in Several Categories , being close in others , playing great defense just being the superstar athlete he is. in my opinion (i admit it could be biased but i can make a pretty good case against anyone!) he is the best ALL Around player in the Game , he may not be the very best at any one thing , but His combination of Hitting both for Average and Power , his Ability to Play defense both with his Arm and the Ground he can Cover and He is a great baserunner also, always taking an extra base or getting a key steal. I think you would be hardpressed to find anyone person who has a better combination of skills than Josh.
Josh is a true testament of what can happen when giving your life truly and completely to the Lord , Sure the road may not be easy every day for the rest of your life , but if you trust in the Lord he will take care of you. I truly love the fact that a guy not just with that baseball ability but with that character and that faith plays for my Hometown Team. He is a truly a guy that realizes that he shouldnt be here but the only reason he is here is because the Lord wants him to be.
I think its really awesome to have the best player in the game on my favorite team. I think its even cooler to have such an Ambassador for Christ and what the Power of Christ can do playing for my favorite team!! Im proud to say that Josh Hamilton is without a doubt my favorite baseball player and someone i really hope to meet some day. Keep up the goodwork my man and I hope to be watching you in the stands in the playoffs in OCTOBER!!!!!!!!

Goodbye Berlin

Hey Everyone ,

Well my time here in Berlin has came to an End. Its been a little short of 3 weeks , and 3 good ones! I got a stomach virus these last couple of days here in Berlin so that kinda sucked , but on the bright side thats all it was and after a couple of days im fine. We had 2 good camps here the first one was a lot of hard work but we had a great response from kids , parents and the school where it took place. So i think we definately planted seeds in the kids heads and set up Frank and the rest of the permanent Berlin crew with a solid footing in the communty around this school to hopefully with the Lords help start making some major strides.
The basketball camp was a lot more low key , there wasnt a lot for us to do , but News Release the people who put it on are good people and good at what they do , and through using Basketball they reach alot of people.
I cant believe it has only been 3 weeks , It feels like I have been gone from the states for a lot longer than that to me. Berlin has been cool , the people here for the most part are really nice , the City is really cool and German food NOT THAT BAD Suprisingly!!!! Im moving down to Munich today to stay with some friends for a week , then we go to the Camp in Austria. This camp may be the highlight week cause its a camp based out of a 700 year old Castle!!!!!!

Love and Miss Everyone ,
Blake

2 weeks in and counting........

I know weird picture but when i think of Germany and Baskettball i think of Dirk! Dont we all!!!!


Hey Hey,

Well we started our 2nd Camp here in Berlin. The first camp was great , I have a few new German Facebook friends and i think given some time we will have made a big impact in Kid's Lives over here!!! The rest of the Us Team left this weekend. We arent staying at the camp site this week , I have a bout an hour commute via subway and buses .
This camp is way different We arent actually running the camp , its ran by a group called News Release they are a basketball ministry. Players and a coach from the US come over and work through skills all day and there is a "power hour" which is basically YL Club and then a small group discussion which would be Cabin Time. Its pretty cool how they do it. Our Involvement is fairly low , we help out with power hour and other than that we are there for Contact Work with Kids being that i will be gone next week that makes my involvement pretty low. Its alright though Its still a good experience to see how Camps are run and how other people share the Word with kids. Got one More week here In Berlin than its on to Munich and kinda relaxing and seeing Jim and terri who are helped me get set up over here.
I thiink Ive decided this may be the last time i do this much time over here , but if i can make it happen I would like to come over here and it least work one camp a summer. Frank is a great guy and seems to have a really good thing starting here it would be a blessing and honor to help him every year keep it going and make it better. I told him that i think in the year between possibly coming back I think i am gonna try to learn a little German that way i can either speak a little or possibly understand it and be able to read it . Im getting to where i can read a little now already.
One of the really cool underlying Blessings to doing this was this past week , the people we worked with were some really great people from different parts of Texas , a couple of which i think will go onto to be friends long past this camp and even if we dont ever work together again. Some good guys One Youth Pastor of a church in Georgetown and two lead pastors of Churches in Georgetown and Killeen as well as my musician for the week. i expected the experience from working the kids , getting to know Frank and the other people who will be here has been good to . The added experience was un expected and really cool. Well i guess thats all ive got for now , Its weird I left two weeks ago today but it feels like Ive been gone longer than that already!!!

Love Everyone,
Blake