| You know I really tried to stay away from goal-setting in terms of numbers and statistics and categories. Certainly it's an honor to be named with some of the players, the great players in the history of the game, but for me, my motivation has always been more internal.
I certainly have been blessed with the abilities that I have to play, and I feel motivated to try to get the most out of that potential. I try to honor that gift, so I still pleasure in the competition and the chance to be out here and play Major League Baseball. That is what really keeps me going.
Baseball is similar to life -- you are faced with a lot of up and downs. Really a lot of baseball is how well you deal with your failures, and I certainly found that carries over to my personal life, my relationship with my wife and my daughter, and of course with my faith. God calls us to honor him in all that we do, and how we handle adversity sometimes will be the true side of our character, if His spirit lives within us.
I think there is no question that at some point in of our life every person questions their relationship with God. We struggle with things that are not of Him, things that our flesh and world tries to make important to us. Until we can be in accord with that relationship through His most precious gift, His son, we won't fully understand what our priorities should be.
Once we do that, God will convict us in areas that we need to improve upon. And hopefully through growth, through staying close to His word and communicating with Him through the vehicle of prayer that He's allowed us to have, we'll find a way to find those priorities and realize that trying to serve Him and have an eternal perspective in what's most important.
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