Guest Post: Enduring Trials
I am so excited to introduce to you a very dear friend of mine and to welcome him to the blog today! Three years ago, I met Michael Fairchild while he was in Alaska playing college summer baseball. I had no idea that our meeting would blossom into a friendship that I have come to cherish deeply. His life-story has been marked by circumstances that would often cause a person to become defeated and discouraged by closed doors when God's plan has appeared differently than expected. How do you choose faith when your dreams have crumbled right in front of you, and you're left to embrace a path that doesn't look anything like what you thought?
Michael is here to share his thoughts today and pull from his own experience in hopes that it will encourage you to trust God with your journey...even if it takes you places you don't plan.
Take it away, Michael...
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." - James 1:2-4 (NIV)
I have been thoroughly blessed in my lifetime to travel the vast majority of the United States and neighboring countries, meet people from all walks of life, and experience a vast array of cultures. On these journeys, I came to realize something: although people come from diverse experiences, backgrounds, and ways of doing and pursuing life, we are all, at the most fundamental levels, the same. Think about it, we all have the same basic needs. Now these needs are obviously wide ranging: from requiring food and shelter to desiring human love and connection. At the foundation of all this though, lies our need for God and to make senes of life and our time in it. What I came to realize about people is that every single person on this earth struggles with something. It is part of our condition. Our active response to these struggles, challenges, obstacles, setbacks, failures, etc. have refining and defining potential for our character and quality of life. Let me share what I have learned from wrestling with these things in my life.
Since three years old, I have played baseball. I like to call it my life's work, but that is only half true. The other half consists of a little kid who dreams of being a big leaguer, plays catch with his dad in the front yard after a long day at work, and trades baseball cards with his friends after school when he should be doing homework. I love baseball. It makes me feel alive in a way that very little other things do. In the end though, the game always wins. It goes on. Other, younger players fill the spots of the older, wily vets. I know one day I will have to hang up my spikes. I realize that. What I have learned to realize though, is that I have less control over when that is than I would like to think.
Here is why: my senior year in college I tore it up. I poured everything I had into that season. It was my last chance to fulfill my dream of playing professional baseball; my senior year of high school and junior year in college had proved unfruitful. If there was any time to do it, it had to be now. I achieved some of my goals: 1st team all-conference, 1st team all-region, and honorable mention all- American selections, along with a 2nd team all-academic, all-American selection to ice the cake. Everything lined up; now I could only sit and wait for the draft.
The draft came and went. No calls. I started looking for independent ball tryouts and opportunities but they all fell through for one reason or another. One team wanted me to travel halfway across the country to play. I told them I would plan my travel and get back to them. I called them the next day, but they had already picked up a player. A Canadian team called me to pitch for them the coming Monday. It was a Friday, but my bags were packed because of what I had learned from my last interaction. Wait, my passport expired last year. Another opportunity gone. The final straw was a team wanted me to fly all the way across the country, pay all my travel expenses, a tryout fee, only for a CHANCE to play for them. I could not do that to my family because I did not have a job yet. It seemed like a pipe dream. I felt like God was shutting the doors. I was open to His leading, despite my pursuit of this dream for my entire life.
The Friday of the next week I decided was going to be the last time I was going to throw a baseball competitively. A lot of the Indy ball teams wanted to see live video of me throwing, but I did not have anything recent that was of good quality. In turn, I contacted Kyle Boddy from Driveline to see if I could throw against live hitters at his facility. I had seen videos of players throwing there on Facebook. So I went, I threw, I dominated. Kyle contacted me afterwards and said I showed great stuff, and to not give up on the dream. Two weeks later, after more throwing and live at-bats, I got a call and was quickly flying in a plane to Arizona. I was heading to the Mariners Spring Training facility.
Signing with the Seattle Mariners, the team I grew up watching and rooting for, was surreal. I did it. I had made it to the Promised Land. Subsequently, I had a good first season and was invited to Instructional League in the Dominican Republic. I was quickly learning how hard a life in pro ball is: minor leaguers are with teammates 24/7 essentially, hardly any days off, poor pay (but also hardly any expenses), and always traveling. It is tough on relationships; you have to say no to a lot of things. Wait for the offseason, essentially. Nothing has been as tough though as what I experienced this year in Spring Training.
I have been thoroughly blessed in my lifetime to travel the vast majority of the United States and neighboring countries, meet people from all walks of life, and experience a vast array of cultures. On these journeys, I came to realize something: although people come from diverse experiences, backgrounds, and ways of doing and pursuing life, we are all, at the most fundamental levels, the same. Think about it, we all have the same basic needs. Now these needs are obviously wide ranging: from requiring food and shelter to desiring human love and connection. At the foundation of all this though, lies our need for God and to make senes of life and our time in it. What I came to realize about people is that every single person on this earth struggles with something. It is part of our condition. Our active response to these struggles, challenges, obstacles, setbacks, failures, etc. have refining and defining potential for our character and quality of life. Let me share what I have learned from wrestling with these things in my life.
Since three years old, I have played baseball. I like to call it my life's work, but that is only half true. The other half consists of a little kid who dreams of being a big leaguer, plays catch with his dad in the front yard after a long day at work, and trades baseball cards with his friends after school when he should be doing homework. I love baseball. It makes me feel alive in a way that very little other things do. In the end though, the game always wins. It goes on. Other, younger players fill the spots of the older, wily vets. I know one day I will have to hang up my spikes. I realize that. What I have learned to realize though, is that I have less control over when that is than I would like to think.
Here is why: my senior year in college I tore it up. I poured everything I had into that season. It was my last chance to fulfill my dream of playing professional baseball; my senior year of high school and junior year in college had proved unfruitful. If there was any time to do it, it had to be now. I achieved some of my goals: 1st team all-conference, 1st team all-region, and honorable mention all- American selections, along with a 2nd team all-academic, all-American selection to ice the cake. Everything lined up; now I could only sit and wait for the draft.
The draft came and went. No calls. I started looking for independent ball tryouts and opportunities but they all fell through for one reason or another. One team wanted me to travel halfway across the country to play. I told them I would plan my travel and get back to them. I called them the next day, but they had already picked up a player. A Canadian team called me to pitch for them the coming Monday. It was a Friday, but my bags were packed because of what I had learned from my last interaction. Wait, my passport expired last year. Another opportunity gone. The final straw was a team wanted me to fly all the way across the country, pay all my travel expenses, a tryout fee, only for a CHANCE to play for them. I could not do that to my family because I did not have a job yet. It seemed like a pipe dream. I felt like God was shutting the doors. I was open to His leading, despite my pursuit of this dream for my entire life.
The Friday of the next week I decided was going to be the last time I was going to throw a baseball competitively. A lot of the Indy ball teams wanted to see live video of me throwing, but I did not have anything recent that was of good quality. In turn, I contacted Kyle Boddy from Driveline to see if I could throw against live hitters at his facility. I had seen videos of players throwing there on Facebook. So I went, I threw, I dominated. Kyle contacted me afterwards and said I showed great stuff, and to not give up on the dream. Two weeks later, after more throwing and live at-bats, I got a call and was quickly flying in a plane to Arizona. I was heading to the Mariners Spring Training facility.
Signing with the Seattle Mariners, the team I grew up watching and rooting for, was surreal. I did it. I had made it to the Promised Land. Subsequently, I had a good first season and was invited to Instructional League in the Dominican Republic. I was quickly learning how hard a life in pro ball is: minor leaguers are with teammates 24/7 essentially, hardly any days off, poor pay (but also hardly any expenses), and always traveling. It is tough on relationships; you have to say no to a lot of things. Wait for the offseason, essentially. Nothing has been as tough though as what I experienced this year in Spring Training.
In my second inning of work in my first game of Spring Training, I threw a fastball that the hitter skied above home plate. The catcher lost it in the sun, so I started going for it, but then stopped as the corner infielders crashed. They have fly ball coverage priority over me, but then they stopped as well as they waited for the other person to catch it. So I go for it again. I hear a pop, and it felt like someone hit me on the back of my left ankle with a bat. I collapse. I had ruptured my left Achilles tendon.
The next week was a whirlwind. It was the first time I had heard the phrase 'potential career-ending injury' applied to my life. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I had a lot to consider. I went along with the surgery and am in the course of doing rehab, but I have been told by the Mariners Player Development Coordinator that my path to the Big Leagues is as narrow as it comes. I am at the bottom of the totem pole in the organization, and I realize that. I am just beginning my pro career.
Rehab life has really opened my eyes and given me so much empathy for players that have been injured before me, because this is the first time I have been really injured. It gives you a ton of time to think and reflect, because you cannot do much else. You have so much time on your hands it is incredible. A lot of questions have filtered through my mind: 'what are you trying to show me NOW God?' , 'why does this road need to be so difficult?' , and the main one, 'after getting me here the way you did, why this?'
At the end of the day, I am in God's hands. As with most people that have struggled with something, I have learned and have grown more from the difficult periods of my life than when I was sailing calmer waters. I really believe trials test our attitude, effort, and perspective towards life. Are you really, I mean REALLY, trying to get the most out of your life? Are you enjoying the story you are living? If not, what is it that you are expecting from God?
I have learned that our expectations are often the reason for our heartbreak. We get sad when life does not happen the way we want it to. Well guess what, that's life. We cannot control the results or what people think or what people do. We can only control our thoughts and actions, and then the rest is up to God. The more people see tough things in life as opportunities and challenges rather than defeat and failures, the more satisfaction and joy they will feel in dealing with these issues. There is always something that can be learned from a tough situation. Dive into it, face it, embrace it, and trust God that He has a plan in the end. Because guess what, it's true."
* If you enjoyed what you read today and would like to follow Michael's continuing baseball journey, follow him on Facebook "Michael Fairchild" or on Instagram: @mfairchild19.
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