Count Your Blessings.

James 1:2 

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,"

I don't know about you, but there are definitely those days where I can catch myself focusing on the bad, rather then the good. It is sometimes hard to see this "joy" James talks about when we face tough times. I've been realizing more and more though, that the choice is truly ours. It is a mindset. When those times and thoughts come, we can choose to focus on the positive, rather then the negative. We can choose to be joyful, rather then upset. We can choose to have a heart of thanksgiving, rather then a heart of bitterness. We can choose to trust the Lord, rather then trying to control the situation our self. Philippians 4:8 reminds us to focus on things that are "true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent and praiseworthy." I know easier said then done, but God has really been pressing on my heart lately to turn my negative thoughts into positive and truly trust Him with EVERYTHING. That includes, with life in general, with the unknowns we face in baseball, with our financial needs, with our hopes, with our aspirations, with absolutely everything. 

When I think of all the Lord has done for us thus far, I think to myself, I have no reason to doubt. Yet I catch myself being fearful of the unknown still. I was having one of those "downer days" last week and was quickly put back in my place when God met us in such a personal way that went above and beyond our expectations. As I was venting my fears to my best friend through a text message and asking for prayer for the unknowns we face this offseason, Daniel came home with a letter and a gift from some dear friends of ours. It literally humbled us in a way I've never felt before, it was a picture, once again, of the Lord's faithfulness, provision and heart for us. There I was, doubting, yet it was almost as if the Lord Himself walked through our door and said "Here, I will take care of you ALWAYS, Don't doubt my willingness to take care of you." It really brought a fresh perspective, once again, that He is truly faithful!

This weekend, there was some family events going on back in California that we knew we wanted to be apart of. Daniel has Sundays off, so as soon as Daniel was out of baseball on Saturday, we left right away to make the four hour trek to Cali. Daniel's cousin, Max, was having a birthday party in Long Beach and all Daniel's family would be there. So as soon as we got to Cali, we headed in the car with his parents and made our way to Long Beach. We had such an amazing time catching up with family. The next day, Sunday, my Tutu (Grandma) was throwing a family get together at her place in Anaheim. So we were able to attend that as well. It was so nice to catch up with our "blessings" this weekend. We had to head back to Arizona right after because Daniel had to be at the field again early this morning. So although, it was a quick trip, it was productive and well worth it! And we were once again reminded of how loved and blessed we are. My challenge to you and myself today is: Count your blessings & choose to be positive :) You'll realize you're a lot more blessed then you may think sometimes.

PERSPECTIVE:

Round Two!

So today was "Round 2" of getting cast off & stitches out! It definitely felt a little like deja vu sitting in that office for the second time. This time around, there was a new sense of relief we both felt and a refreshed perspective as well. Daniel kept saying "He is Free". Obviously, we don't what the future holds and we hope it means no more injuries, but fact is, you never know. What we do know though, is that the tooth sized bone chip that has caused so much discomfort and even mystery for years, is finally OUT and GONE! For that, we are thankful. We truthfully joked with the doctor and his assistant that we hope we never see them again. At least not under the same circumstances. I have said it before, but we really could not have been blessed with a more perfect doctor during this entire process. I sometimes wonder if we had been with someone else, if they would have been as supportive in listening to Daniel's needs and would have been as persistent in taking care of it. Many trainers even rode Daniel's discomfort off as just "inflammation" from his first surgery. Daniel knew it didn't feel right and I'm so proud of him for addressing it and pushing for it to be checked. The Mariners have also been unbelievably supportive through this process. Although our circumstances haven't been what we thought this season was going to be, there is so much to be thankful for. And we have again been reminded of our Lord's provision and peace through this entire ordeal. God does have perfect plans and can use anything meant for bad, for HIS glory! We are resting in that.

We have been told the rehab for this is very easy and Daniel should be able to begin all baseball activity again within 4 weeks. Right now, all is looking good that we should be able to head home to Cali September 6th. We are looking forward to being with friends and family again. Winterball is still up in the air and we should find out more within the month, depending on how Daniel is feeling. There is a possibility of Daniel playing in Venezuela right now from mid October to maybe mid December. Because we heard it is unsafe for wives to travel there, I will be staying behind this time and looking for a job for the offseason. We have a lot of unknowns ahead and ask for prayer and guidance for decisions that will need to be made in regards to offseason details. Thank you all so much for the constant prayers and support. We are truly blessed.

In Good Hands

Yesterday was Daniel's second surgery of the season. We were unsure going into it whether or not there would be damage to his tendons, so we prayed specifically for that and had many others join us in prayer. Well, not to my surprise, the Lord heard our prayers! The surgery went absolutely as perfect as it could have gone and there was NO damage to the tendons at all! Praise God! The doc said the bone chip was pretty smooth, which means it has been there for awhile so we are glad to get it out! We think it probably happened in 2008 when Daniel broke that same hand. We are very thankful to be moving forward. Daniel has a soft cast on for the next 10 days and the trainers told him that he should finish his rehab by September 6th! Which means we'll actually be able to go home sooner then expected! From there, Daniel will continue to train and then we will see if winter ball is a possibility. Right now, just taking it day by day and thankful to the Lord for being our constant source of peace, comfort, provision and so much more thru this entire process. We are definitely in "Good Hands" 

Game 1 Sports

This is what we do to kill time while rehabbing :) Our "Old Spice" Parody using a G1 Bat. Enjoy! And if you need some new wood bats, check out www.Game1Sports.com

MLB will have to wait a lil longer for the Carroll Debut

So after trying different routes in order to get answers as to what has been causing Daniel pain, we were finally given a verdict today. 


Daniel has a bone chip in his hand which was caused by a tendon chipping away at his bone (ouch!) This explains all the pain he has been feeling. We believe this is something that started back in 2008 and the doctor said by the way it looks, it has definitely been there for awhile. The problem is, is that it is not visible from an X-ray or MRI. The only way we were able to see it was thru the CT scan. We are very thankful for a doctor who was persistent and listened. Daniel will need to have surgery next week to remove it. So unfortunately he is done for the season. It is a 6 to 8 week rehab. He should hopefully be good by October 1st & could possibly be able to play winter ball after that. As disappointing as it is, we really have a peace about it & are just really thankful they figured it out and we can now proceed in the process of moving forward. This minor league journey has in no way been what we expected, but that passion in my husband's heart to play has not faded one bit! We will continue to fight thru these battles and I truly believe once Daniel is healthy that the sky is the limit! God is good! There are so many up and downs in this baseball life, but I am thankful that throughout it all, our consistency can be found in the Lord. Please continue to keep us in prayer as we begin to take another rehab assignment head on again. Will be sure to keep you all posted.
We love you guys! xo!

Moving in a Good Direction

We are getting pretty familiar with the doctor out here in Arizona. Unfortunately, that is not a good thing in an athletes career, but we honestly could not be happier with the hand specialist we have been paired up with. This man has an amazing resume and has been so helpful throughout this entire process. As we arrived at the doctor's office yesterday, the assistant sat us down as he went over Daniel's medical history. Daniel's file is abnormally huge considering all the hand injuries he has experienced. I'm telling you, I'm married to a fighter! We all even made a joke over the size of it. Joking aside though, it really helped them to understand more that this has been an ongoing issue in Daniel's hand and something he has even tried playing through in the past. Although it is disappointing to be out of the game right now, we are happy and thankful to be getting this taken care of once and for all. 


We had to do a little office hopping yesterday. At the first office is where Daniel got his x-ray, but because the x-ray couldn't tell us too much, we had to make our way to a different office to get a MRI done. When we got to the second office, we had to wait for a long time. We later did find out that Daniel was suppose to go in right away, but the lady at the front desk made a mistake. Thankfully, Miss Congeniality was playing & I was thoroughly entertained while I waited. We were in there long enough, that I was actually able to watch the entire movie from beginning to end. I feel bad for the trainer that had to accompany us, but I guess he might be used to it. I caught myself many times wanting to laugh hysterically out loud during the movie, but we were in the awkward quiet office setting, so I was trying to control myself. I love that Lord brings things like funny movies to keep me joyful. 


Anyways so I know you're thinking, well what did we find out... Unfortunately, we haven't been given an exact diagnosis yet, but we are definitely heading in a good direction. They did an x-ray & MRI on Daniel yesterday. We do not know the results from the MRI yet and Daniel will actually be going back for a CT scan tomorrow as well. The x-rays didn't show an obvious break or anything, so that's good! The doctor did say that there may be something there that just isn't visible on the x-ray though, so the CT scan & MRI should be able tell us more. He was able to figure out the exact spot that is causing Daniel pain and said it doesn't seem like the cartilage, which is also good news. So right now, we are still in the waiting process and should hopefully have a better idea of things tomorrow.  


We honestly have such a peace right now though (thank you for praying). I'm not going to lie, it still gets tough when we put our eyes on our circumstance in baseball. Especially recently, with hearing about the trades and call ups. It's a weird feeling to be stuck in one place knowing that baseball continues to go on without you. It's been really neat out here though and the Lord has been moving so much. Daniel has been having bible studies with some of the other players out here that are also rehabbing and it's been such a sweet time. I really see the Lord using Daniel to make big impacts out here. When I think of that, I feel like we have such a clear picture. And that we are where we are for a reason. That's what it's all about. We will continue to trust God. Thank you for the prayers, please keep them coming.

Rehab Update : Prayer Request

Please keep Daniel in prayer. They are scheduling a doctor appointment for him next Monday (wish it could be sooner) to see the hand specialist again. For those of you who are not up to date, Daniel had a setback in Saturdays game. While swinging, he felt an immense pain in his hand. The same hand that his hamate bone was removed from. There are a few possibilities of what might be causing him pain. Best case scenario (like I mentioned in the last blog) is just that his muscles are tight and pinching a tendon that runs along his arm to his hand. If that is the case, it will only require some therapy and rest. Another possibility is that there is built up cartilage in his hand where the pain is which would require another surgery. In 08, Daniel actually also had a fracture in that same hand that was caused by a tendon rubbing against the bone, so that is also another possibility. It most definitely has not been the baseball season we had hoped for. But again, my husband is so tough and I know we will get thru this.  I can say, that although these injuries are disappointing, God has given us both an unexplainable peace that I know can only come from Him (Phil. 4:7). I'd ask that you join us in praying for healing, guidance and answers over whatever is causing Daniel pain. I am claiming Jeremiah 29:11 over our lives, that despite our circumstances, God has GOOD plans for our future. We will continue to TRUST in Him.