I love baseball. I grew up playing the game all through high school. I was a pretty good catcher and had dreams of one day becoming a Major League star, but... God had other plans for me.
The great thing is that all that time on the diamond, was not for not. I learned many valuable lessons from the coaches and players I played with. Not baseball fundamentals, but life fundamentals. How to be a man of integrity.
I've had the pleasure of enjoying some baseball fever the past few days (6 games, 6 stadiums, 4 days), and yesterday I got a chance to hang out with one of the best coaches. My dad.
He reminded me of some of the times I had playing ball. Some of the hits and misses. We were sitting at Nationals Park in DC, watching the Nats play the Pirates, and the catcher was running down to back up first base on an infield grounder. My dad said, "I remember when you use to do that. Always hustling on every play. You would sometimes beat the runner down the line. You played aggressively on every play from the first inning to the last."
At that moment I had to look away, because my eyes began to tear up. It is moment that even now as I write this, I am having trouble putting in words. My father was proud of me. It had been years since I truly felt that feeling from my father.
I began to think, how long has it been since I made my Heavenly Father proud? Am I doing things to lift His word, and praise His name? Are you?
Yea, you may have an ESPN moment in your walk with God, but are you putting together a hall of fame career? The analogy is somewhat crude,but I have to ask, are you aggressively playing every play? All nine innings?
No comments:
Post a Comment