We are a baseball family. Both my husband and I played ball and love the sport tremendously. Currently I have 4 kids playing on 4 different teams so that definitely keeps us hopping.
My oldest played when he was younger but it just wasn't his thing and that is totally okay. We want our kids to play a variety of sports so they can get a feel for them all and then they are free to choose which ones they enjoy the most and focus on those.
We do value sports in general a great deal as we do feel like you learn a variety of important life skills while participating. But that is a post for another day.
My boys are all so very different. They have different likes and dislikes, different talents, and very different personalities. We do our best to help each one of them navigate through life and develop the character they need to be good men someday. We of course do the same with our daughter, helping her grow into the woman God has called her to be someday, but she has a completely different personality all together and, again, that is for another post.
Back to baseball....
My second son absolutely loves baseball. He works hard at it. Goes to every practice, even the optional ones. Practices at home. He is always dragging his dad and I out to play catch with him. He works out in the off season. He just really loves the sport and puts his time in to it. Now it isn't always easy for him but each and every time a challenge comes up for him he just meets it head on and doesn't really let it discourage him much. We are in a very different season with him because he is making this his own sport. He is self motivated. We are just cheering him on.
So lets talk about boy 3. He is 22 months younger than his brother. The middle child. The third boy. Not the only girl. Not the baby. I have watched him struggle to try to find his place.
I see that he is often overlooked because my first two boys take up a lot of space when they are in the room so to speak - not because of anything they do but just because of who they are - who God has made them to be. My third boy though... wow... he is something special too. He has so many talents.
He has this mind that is so brilliant. He is an inventor, a creator, a builder. He has the sweetest heart you will ever find. He is also a rule follower and it really offends him when someone doesn't do the right thing. He has so many gifts and he just doesn't see them. So as his mama I feel like I was put in his life to be his encourager, his advocate, and his reminder of how special he is so he doesn't get lost in the sauce so to speak.
He also plays baseball. He is 2 years behind his next brother up but he thinks he should have the same ability right now as his brother and it is very discouraging to him. We tell him all the time that his brother is two years older. That means he has two more years of experience, two more years of coordination, he just has two more years and that is a big deal when you are 11 and 13. But he still doesn't see it. The competition has always been fierce between these two.
This season has been especially hard for boy 3. I see it. It hurts my heart for him. I also get it because this season in life for me has been one of the hardest I have faced too. However, like in life, we won't let him give up because quitting is not an option. Just because something is hard doesn't mean you can give up and quit. You have to keep moving forward. Then at the end of the season (in baseball and in life) you can evaluate what changes you need to make for the next season.
Anyway, last night was his last regular season game. Batting has been a big challenge for him this season. He bumped up to the next level this year and the pitchers are pitching harder and faster. He just hasn't found his groove yet. He has constantly been waiting for the perfect pitch. A lot of times he has let strikes go by because they weren't "just right". He has been "caught looking" several times as we refer to it in baseball. Then he would get one strike on him, then two, and you just knew how much he was struggling up there. You could see the discouragement on him and you knew the pitcher had him.
So at last nights game I told him to simply "go for it". Don't wait. If he saw a strike swing at it. Don't wait for that second or third strike. Lay off the high stuff and if was in the dirt let it go but if it was a strike... take a chance and swing hard.
And he did it.
The first pitch right out of the gate was a strike and he had a great swing. He did not connect with the ball but his swing was fantastic.
In his next 3 times at bat he was hit by a pitch and got on base, he was walked, and he struck out. He didn't get a hit this game. But I was so very proud of him. It was in those moments that I had never seen him look more like a ball player. He had this confidence about him that I had not seen in him before and he took a chance when the strikes came in. In fact, he didn't let one strike pass him by without taking a swing at it.
I told him how proud of him I was. That I knew he didn't get a hit that day but he went for it. He was proactive and not reactive. He truly was a baseball player. He said it was his best game of the season and he was right.
He was mentally tough in a way he has never been before and that is truly a life skill that he will use over and over again. He finally was not afraid of making a mistake.
It isn't about the stats for us. Sure, all of that is the fun part of baseball. But in those at bats last night I saw my son gain this confidence that I have never seen in him before. He did it. He made the decision to do it. And his dad and I were just there to cheer him on in the process.
Such a great image of what I feel like God does in our own lives. So many times all we have to do is make the decision to take the steps to press through whatever life is throwing at us. Take a chance. To swing at the strikes and lay off the high ones and the low ones. He is there to cheer us on. He is our biggest fan - even if we strike out. And if we don't get a hit, well tomorrow is a new day and a brand new at bat.
Other posts:
My Grief Journey
The Beginning of Loss
The First of the Hard Decisions
Put One Foot in Front of the Other
Leaving Him Behind
///[Feel free to subscribe to have my latest posts delivered to your inbox.]\\\
Comments
Post a Comment