Well our 2010 baseball season has officially come to an end. What a season it turned out to be!
Back in December, an opportunity arose for Linc to try out for a new team. We happened to pick up our mail on Christmas Day and there was a letter for Lincoln congratulating him on making the team.
This team is much more competitive and advanced than anything he has been involved in, so it took us a little bit by surprise when we got the word that we would have our first round of games in mid January.
We packed up the family and headed to Las Vegas for 12 games in three days. Linc got to play on the brand new Big League Dreams field that had just opened the previous week. The fields are exact replicas of MLB parks. It was so much fun. He fielded well but struggled at the plate. We chalked it up to being the new kid and not having thrown a baseball in about six months.
By February, the team was in full baseball mode. Three practices a week and sometimes, up to four hours of practice on Saturdays.
We felt certain that Linc was doing just fine and that by the Presidents Day Tourney in February, his batting average would improve.
....we were wrong.
He would have an occasional hit here and there but strike outs were starting to become the norm. It was painful to watch. His confidence plummeted. Discouragement set in as he tracked his stats on the team website. We stayed positive, his coaches stayed positive but the person who mattered most quit believing in himself.
It's difficult to describe the pit in my stomach, tightness in my throat, can't bear to watch type of anxiety that filled me when poor Linc stepped up to the plate. My only consolation was that Mark felt as bad as I did and Rachel felt worse than both of us.
The hardest part of the whole thing was watching my sweet son.
Biting his lip, fighting back the tears as he hurried back to the dugout -- strike out after strike out.
I was proud of the way he handled it all. Never throwing a
bat or a helmet, cheering his teammates on from the bench, shaking hands with his coaches and thanking them after every single game and practice.
By the end of March, there was little improvement and by April, things were starting to hit rock bottom. Instead of swinging the bat and missing the ball, he began to watch strikes. Beautiful, perfectly delivered meatballs right down the center of the plate went unchallenged, not even a swipe of the bat.
Disappointment, turned to agony and then to frustration.
Nobody was more frustrated than Lincoln.
One Sunday morning before church, I was getting something from the hall closet when I heard quiet sobs coming from Linc's room. My heart sank as I immediately knew what was wrong. I knocked on his door and found my sweet boy with red eyes and red cheeks sitting on his bed. I will never forget that picture in my mind. Lincoln sitting there in his suit, with his head in his hands. Heartbreak written all over his face and tears dripping from his chin.
"Why?"
"Why can't I hit the ball?" he sobbed.
"I'm letting my team down, I'm letting my coaches down."
I wrapped my arms around him, not sure what to say.
Suddenly, he looked up at me and with tenderness and complete sincerity he asked,
"Mom, do you think it's ok to fast and pray about baseball?"
The question caught me a little off guard.
I paused a moment and then answered,
"Lincoln, if something is important to you, it's important to the Lord."
I assured him that although God has much bigger things to worry about than baseball, I know that He knows Lincoln by name and he loves him. He hears every prayer, especially earnest ones and He answers them. If Heavenly Father notes the fall of the sparrow, He certainly understands the importance of baseball to a 12 year old.
Lincoln asked if I would fast with him that day, Rachel and Mark joined us.
The next week we fasted again and so continued our pattern.
Nearly every prayer that was said in our family over the next couple of months included a plea to help Lincoln believe in himself. One night Rachel plastered notes on the bathroom mirror that said:
You can do it!
We believe in you!
Home Run Hitter!
You are amazing!
We love you!
We also studied scriptures about turning weaknesses into strengths. Studying the scriptures helped Lincoln realize that he had to work hard and do his part and then Heavenly Father would do the rest. We decided to get up early and go hit a couple of buckets before school and then again in the evenings. He didn't complain about waking up at 6:15 am. He didn't complain about giving up any free time at night to go practice hitting.
It was in those early morning practices that we started to see a change. It began with just making contact with the ball and gradually he started hitting to the fence. Within a few weeks, he started hitting over the fence. Confidence returned. It was an amazing transformation.
It didn't take long for the knew attitude to transfer to the games.
Lincoln started hitting the ball!
Singles, doubles, triples, game savers, game winners. Over the last six weeks of the season, he was the top hitter on the team. It was hard to believe we were watching the same kid.
A Disney movie couldn't have captured a come-back of this magnitude.
By the end of the season, he had gone from dead last in the batting order to the #2 spot.
His coaches were thrilled. They even put him on the cover of the team website. We were relieved that the season was ending on a positive note, Rachel started sleeping through the night once again but most of all, Lincoln learned an amazing lesson that will stay with him....
If something is important to us, it is important to the Lord.
If He cares about something as seemingly insignificant as the baseball season of a 12 year old kid, he cares about everything.
Big, small and in-between.
God cares.
He loves His children, He knows us by our names.
He will answer in His time and way.
At times He will let us struggle in order to teach us faith and reliance on Him
But He WILL be in the details of our lives, if we will only invite Him in.
Baseball season 2010....
a lesson for life.
