Softball & Saltwater

The Providence softball team walked off with an extra innings victory last night after a bases loaded, two-out single by Brian Spence.  Disposing of the team known as “Spare Parts” allowed us to celebrate a return to .500 in the incredibly competitive (please read sarcasm into this statement) and Big League talent heavy Little Elm church league, but it did not come without cost – at least to me personally.

You see prior to the game my throat was so sore that I found it incredibly difficult to swallow the tiniest amounts of food and I even had to put aside that blessed nectar of artificial sweetness, otherwise known as Diet Coke.  The constant yelling on the sacred softball diamond resulted in the virtual disappearance of my voice towards the end of the game.

That’s a problem.  I am supposed to preach three services this weekend and I need a voice to do so.

Once I got home I googled “home remedies for a sore throat” and discovered that a boiling concoction of water, apple cider vinegar, and honey is a healing mixture of divine proportions.  Well, we did not have apple cider vinegar in the house, so what was option number two?  But I did not have the necessary ingredients for that one either (Coke and Tabasco sauce?), strike two.  After a few more minutes of browsing I finally found an elixir that existed in the Stone home – saltwater.  I was supposed to gargle eight ounces of saltwater at the highest tolerable temperature to ensure a somewhat complete restoration of my vocal chords.  Now I have a well-documented affinity for sodium chloride, but saltwater is even beyond my liking.  Nevertheless, I gargled away.  Maybe I gargled wrong, but it did not do what the infallible world wide web promised.

That’s a problem.  I am supposed to preach three services this weekend and I need a voice to do so.

As I lay in bed pondering what it would be like to preach in a weak and raspy voice, I was promptly convicted.  Our great God does not need a loud voice to proclaim His truth to the people of Providence Church, His Spirit is sufficient to teach His Scripture to those gathered to hear it.  It is funny how I believe in the sovereignty, sufficiency, and supremacy of Christ in all things, including my vocal chords, yet fear drives me to an oceanic remedy.

That’s a problem.  Time to ditch the saltwater and let Him preach this weekend.