Ryan has been participating in t-ball and swimming as his current extracurricular activities. Our initial intent and expectation was that he would just learn how to play the sport. Over the course of the season, we have realized that there is much more for all of us to learn such as big life lessons.
Wilson recently worked in the snack shack as one of the parents’ responsibilities for their child to play in the league. During his shift, there were 2 baseball games for the older kids going on and he watched one of the games during his down time. One of the kids made a big error in a play where he should have thrown the ball to 1st base rather than 3rd base, which caused their team to lose. The kid started to cry. At the end of the game, the team did their cheer and congratulated the other team. Then the coach called the team together for a talk. Apparently, the League encourages all of the coaches to try to teach a life lesson at the end of each game. Wilson overheard the coach’s life lesson, shared it with me, and we have been so encouraged by it. The coach shared that we do not cry and mope and dwell in our mistake when we fail to make a play or hit the ball. When you cry, you are showing a sign of selfishness…because your pride has been attacked. The team is counting on you to do your best FOR THE TEAM. He also said that this also applies in life and if there is anything he hopes the kids will take away from the season, it will be this.
Wilson and I were so impressed by the Coach and talked about how we have failed to teach Ryan this important life lesson and to take it one step further as a Christian. Thankfully, we are not too late! Ryan tends to be a perfectionist, where he does not want to play or even try if he knows that he cannot achieve his goal…such as catching the ball. Ryan has cried several times because he either missed the ball and it hit him or he had difficulty doing some other drill. We have yet to teach him that these “failures,” in t-ball, as well as, in life, make us feel bad because we are seeking approval, value, and worth in our achievements rather than knowing that our worth is in Christ and in the Cross. This has definitely been a life lesson for us as well, as we daily find ourselves searching for approval and affirmation from our bosses, our spouse, our parents, and even through our kids.
