How long does it take to eat? Shower? Play with your children? Read the mail? When I put real numbers on these everyday activities in life, it becomes very easy for me to see things as they are and not necessarily as I perceive them.

Sometimes I just say it takes all day to do one thing, when really it was because of interruptions, or I wasn’t organized or prepared. There are also times when the day flies by, like when I feel like I just fixed lunch, how can it be time for supper?! Or you start browsing in a store and lose track of time. Suddenly the afternoon is gone and you are on to the next thing in a hurry. I haven’t found where the times that I waste goes, like in a waiting room at a doctor’s office, or at the airport waiting for the plane to get in, or the hour of channel surfing that felt like ten minutes. Time is mysterious until we start to look carefully at where we are spending our time and how we are using it.

Many of you are just leaving Florida or Arizona after Spring Training. There was a Spring Training a few years ago that was very eye-opening for me. While Cal was training, I was in my own sort of training in Arizona. He was working on his physical training and I was there to see some spiritual training in my own life. I was so changed by what I learned and I think often of the principles the Lord showed me.

Spring Training had changed for us over the years. We went from it feeling like a vacation, sitting around the pool deciding where to eat, to it feeling like a triathlon everyday. Cal would be gone all day and there I was with three small children in a small apartment with a small number of ways to entertain. Forget about going anywhere to eat, we were getting the fastest food around! As we got older, the energy level changed, too. Things that we spent our time on changed just because we did not have energy to be so adventurous.

There was also a shift in my time allotments

Instead of having a lot of time to myself during the day and then Cal and I being together in the evenings, I was now having to balance my time, Cal’s time, and the children’s time. God has used my relationship with my husband and children as a picture of my relationship with Him. He shows me practical pictures of spiritual truths that are a blessing because then it makes so much sense to me!

Quantity and Quality

We hear a lot about quantity and quality time. I learned during that Spring Training God wants to have both with us. He desires a quantity of time with us so that every area of our lives will be touched by Him. When we are continually thinking and meditating, praying or reading and studying, we are allowing God to permeate all the elements that make up our lives. Think of quantity of time with the Lord as being a sponge that is absorbing water. It goes to every area of the sponge.

The woman who stays with God in every area of her life will have a productive Christian life, bearing much fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). When we stay with our children, instead of turning them over to someone else to raise, they bear good fruit from the attention and devotion.

Apart from God we can do nothing (Jn 15:5). Nothing that has meaning to the Lord anyway. He wants all of our lives, not just our church time. The more time you spend with someone, the better you get to know them. When Cal and I were apart because of baseball, it felt like we had to get reacquainted with each other when he would get home. But during the off-seasons we spent lots of time together and things flowed better between us. That is the way our spiritual life is too. The more time we commit to God, the better we know Him. He promises it.

Not only is quantity an important element in our spiritual life, a quality spiritual life is equally important. When I am spending the precious time that my husband and I have together doing something that is wasting time, I have not made our relationship deeper. I have seen the results of quality time with Cal. We get along better, we want to spend more time together, and our marriage is at a deeper level. I am investing time in something that is very important to me. We all spend time somehow. Whether it is at the mall, with our friends, doing nothing, working, or whatever it may be, we all have the same number of hours in a day. Some do spend their time more wisely than others.

God wants our time with Him to be quality. He doesn’t want the last bit of energy we have before we go to sleep to be the only time He gets. He wants the best from us. He wants a sincere effort to spend time with Him in a way that will deepen our relationship with Him. If I make an effort to have intimate time with the Lord, a time of focusing on Him and His word, His character, whatever it is as long as it is about Him, He blesses my whole day.

Just like I need to be reminded of God’s desire to have a whole lot of time with me, in great quantities, throughout the day, I encourage you to let Him in every area of your life. The quality of time we can have in our relationship with Him will deepen our love for Him and our perspective we have toward our lives. Don’t hurry in your relationship with Him or only go to Him when you are in a desperate situation. Go to Him because you love Him and you want a deeper love with Him.

What is the Wives’ Section?In deciding what to name this newsletter, we really wanted a name that we could all appreciate. Where do we sit in ballparks? Where do we know we will be surrounded by others who can relate with our situations? The wives’ section. It is consistent at every ballpark and we all appreciate having a place to call our own while we watch the games!

This is a different kind of “Wives’ Section.” This one is for women who want to grow in their relationship with the Lord, deepening their love of Jesus Christ. Maybe you are just a little interested in spiritual things. Maybe you are looking for something to help you grow. We hope that this gives you things to think about, learn, or share with others.

What is Baseball Chapel?

Baseball Chapel provides a chaplain for every Minor and Major League team in the United States. These chaplains provide chapel for players on Sunday who cannot get to church. They get “The Wives’ Section” to women on the team. There is usually a team chapel leader - one of the players, who organizes schedules and helps set up chapel with the chaplain. Vince Nauss is the president of Baseball Chapel. More information is available on their web site: http://www.baseballchapel.org/

What is UPI? UPI (Unlimited Potential, Inc.) is a baseball ministry for players and their families that also takes the Gospel around the world through baseball clinics. Players go on trips, spreading the message of the Bible. Tom Roy started UPI in 1980, and it has been a blessing to many players. It is based in Warsaw, and there are offices in Atlanta and Phoenix also. For more information about UPI, check out their web site: upi@upi.org.

Who is Christi Eldred? I am usually introduced as “Cal’s wife”, but I go by Christi normally! Cal and I were in the baseball life together from 1989 until 2001, and this is the first season of not playing ball. Cal had a career-ending injury last season and is not able to pitch any longer. We spent most of Cal’s career with the Milwaukee Brewers and the last two seasons with the Chicago White Sox.

I come from a small town in Iowa and have been taken all over the country because of baseball. We have four children and have returned to Iowa to live. In 1990, I prayed that God would enable me to be able to explain my faith to others. God has been faithful and created a desire in me to tell other women about Him. I love to teach Bible studies and this newsletter has been a new way for me to communicate what the Lord teaches me. My e-mail address is wivessection@baseballchapel.org and you can always reach me here. (This address is only seen by me.) I would love to hear from you and know who you are! What should I expect this year?

Without trying to make promises too lofty, I do want to keep expectations high for this newsletter. If I were receiving this I would be looking for a few important things.

The writings must be accurate and easy to understand. There will be references to the Bible to assure you that what is being communicated is from what the Lord says. You may be challenged, encouraged or comforted. This is not a substitute for church, but as we all know, the traveling demands, living in new places, and the baseball schedule itself can make getting involved in church difficult during the season. May this be a way to get some teaching and keep growing in the Lord.Who can answer my questions?

We have provided the phone numbers of both UPI and Baseball Chapel below as well as an email address for me if there is anything you need. If you have questions about something, you can always reach someone at any of those places. Please feel free to contact me any time. I would love to hear from you women in baseball.