The bracelet seems like a baseball novelty. It looks like the seam of a baseball with red stitching on white leather.
No doubt it’s a cool accessory, but it’s so much more than that.
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It is the bracelet that comes with copies of “A Life Worth Following,” a devotional journal inspired by the writings of Justin Sullivan. The Yukon High star was killed in a car accident a day after being named the 2002 state baseball player of the year.
Out of the tragedy has come hope. Not only is there a book celebrating his life, but there is also a baseball team carrying on his passion for his sport and his faith. The Oklahoma City Ambassadors a hosting the inaugural Justin Sullivan Memorial Baseball Tournament this weekend. If you go out to any of the games at Southern Nazarene or Putnam City West, look and see if the Ambassadors are wearing their bracelets.
They are a symbol of Justin.
In those days following his death, his grandfather cut up Justin’s practice baseballs and made bracelets for family and friends. They carried those pieces of Justin with them everywhere they went.
Even though the bracelets sold with the book and worn by the Ambassadors are replicas, they are still powerful.
Earlier this summer, the Ambassadors traveled to Elk City for a game. They got in only two innings before bad weather rolled in. Eventually, all the power in town went out. The only place that had electricity was a gas station with a generator. The team migrated there, looking for something, anything to eat.
Miffed at their bad luck, Cole Cleveland sulked in the parking lot before finally going into the gas station. Still in uniform, he stood at the back of the line, wishing the evening were over.
A trucker wearing a cutoff T-shirt walked up and asked about the team.
“We’re the Oklahoma City Ambassadors,” Cleveland told him.
He didn’t intend to say anything else, but he suddenly had a feeling that he was supposed to talk to this man. Cleveland told him everything — about the team, about Justin’s story, even about the bracelets.
“You know,” the man said when Cleveland finished, “I’ve heard about God all my life, but I never really felt his love until now.”
He asked Cleveland if he could have his bracelet. Cleveland rarely wore one, but for some reason, he’d put one on while he was sulking outside the gas station.
Somewhere, that trucker is driving across the country. He is wearing that bracelet, and he is taking Justin Sullivan’s memory along for the ride.