I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day and an incredible week coming to a close for you.
I'll tell you what, it has been a week of incredible learning for me. There were several moments of "wow, that is profound" and, as I was pondering the lesson I just learned, a new revelation came flying at me. I love it and of course, I have to share with all of you.
Lesson(s) 1 - A club baseball coach called last week and asked if our 12-year old could play in a baseball tournament with his team last weekend. To paint the full picture for you, my son has not been practicing with the team and has played baseball exactly once since baseball ended in July. My Beautiful Bride and I discussed it and I ultimately decided that we would let him play (Kath left this up to me as I was the one who would run him back and forth and sit out in the cold - by Arizona standards! - and watch him play last Friday night...one wise woman!). Fast forward to the game on Saturday morning. They are in the elimination game. Bases loaded. My son is playing catcher. The ball is hit to right field. The right fielder picks it up and throws a perfect strike to home plate - a pretty remarkable accomplishment for a 12-year old! Now the lesson begins. My son slightly misses judges the flight of the ball and it ricochets right off the top of his glove and hits the backstop. One run scores. He sprints back, picks up the ball and guns it toward (key word!) 3rd to get the runner who is advancing. However instead of going to 3rd it ends up somewhere in left-center field. Runs 2, 3 and 4 - run 4 will eventually cost his team the game - score. My son instantly looked at me with this perplexed, "what in the world just happened?", look on his face. You see, he is a very gifted baseball player. He has been able to catch anything you throw at him since he was 2 and in every league he has played in coach's won't steal bases because he always throws the runners out. As I gave him an affirming look of "I love you and I believe in you" and verbally said, "it's o.k., just focus on the next play" the lesson(s) came like a flood.
- Lesson 1A - My sons are a gift, a treasure, I am given the honor, privilege and responsibility of loving, guiding and protecting. They are counting on me to make good decisions for them - until and as they learn to make good, responsible decisions for themselves - and I had failed. What was I thinking? Was it my selfishness in enjoying watching him play? Was it pride in knowing that he is gifted as a baseball player? Whatever it was, I had failed my son. I had not put him in a position to be successful. He trusted my judgement as to whether or not he should play in the tournament and I showed very poor judgement...inexplicably! I coached for more than 15 years...I know that no matter how good someone is, they won't perform well without practice. So the clear lesson - reminder if you will - is my sons are counting on me to make good, responsible decisions for them. While this was only a baseball game, it applies to every aspect of life. I can't make rash decisions...I must think them through. While the consequence here was simply losing a game, the consequences will be far greater as they grow. If you have the honor, privilege and responsibility of being a Mom or Dad, please thoughtfully consider the decisions you make for your kids...they are counting on you!
- Lesson 1B - No matter how talented and gifted we are, if we do not practice, we will not be able to perform to the very best of our ability. Our talents and abilities are a gift from God. We have done nothing to earn or deserve them. Us working to grow and develop them brings glory and honor to Him and, I would argue, an obligation we have.
- Lesson 2 - A lady at the office and I were talking over lunch this week. We were discussing how everyone wants to be loved, valued and recognized. She shared with me a work experience she had. She worked at a homeless shelter. She asked me if I knew, after she had spoken to hundreds, possibly thousands, of homeless men and women, what they said bothered them most. I told her I did not know. She said that person after person explained that what bothered them most about being homeless was that they became invisible. Think about it, what do we tend to do when we see a homeless person? Do you look away? Don't make eye contact because they might ask you for money or food or whatever, right? In that moment we render them invisible. As though they do not exist...there life has no meaning. Friends, let's not let anyone be invisible today! Making eye contact, smiling, maybe saying hello all communicate "I see you", "you are a valuable person" and "your life matters." Please thoughtfully consider your disposition when you encounter anyone today!
- Lesson 3 - Our 6-year old is writing love letters in his class. His teacher is using these love letters to help the students learn to read and write. They write a love letter to a family member and then we write back to him so he can read it the next day in class. The first love letter went to my Beautiful Bride...smart boy! The second love letter went to me. The interesting thing was all of us - including our 12 & 15-year old sons - were excited to see the love letters...and the boys were arguing - hoping in a manly way - who would receive the next love letter. The power of a handwritten, thoughtful note - even if it contains a whole bunch of "so"s as in "I love you so, so, so, so, so much" - cannot be understated. We all like to get them and often re-read them. So my question, my challenge to us today is "who needs to receive a love letter from you today?" It doesn't have to be long, it doesn't have to be all mushy...it just has to be pure and from your heart. Whatever you write it will communicate loud and clear that I love you, I care about you and I thought about you. Wow!
Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your families. I will always be happy and willing to help you any way I can.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.
Kev
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