He Always Expects the Best

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Last night we attended what we thought was going to be our last baseball game of the season, and an “afterthought” at that.

Caleb’s team has only won 4 games this year and 2 of those were forfeits. We ended the regular season, I think in 10th or 12th place, and promptly lost the first game of the league’s tournament. Of course, we were playing the 2nd place team, so it wasn’t much of a surprise. Us parents still proudly watched our kids accept their trophies for playing this year and were looking forward to a break from the ball park for the next few months.

These little guys (7/8 year old, machine pitch) have played their heart out but with three or four of the kids (including Caleb) having never played before, it’s been a “building” year for most of them, and us parents have cheered on the smallest improvement,, if not a whole lot of winning games.

“Did you see me foul out mom?” has been a happy refrain of my son’s – he didn’t get to base, but he did hit the ball!

So you have to understand that when we were told on Saturday we would be playing one more game on Monday, most of us parents were surprised and slightly less than excited. It was like expecting school to let out on Friday for the summer but being told we had to come back for one more day after the weekend, for yet another test. Apparently, the teams had to play in not just the league tournament but also the county tournament. The parents’ refrain was “our poor kids – haven’t they lost enough?”

One more game. That was the attitude of most of us moms as we sat on the bleachers last night. By now, we knew most of the names of the other moms, and we knew the kids well now. This was a night to just have fun because we all knew what was coming. Our little guys would play their hearts out, still strike out, still miss the balls in the outfield, the other team would score heavily and our guys would get their last trophies for playing and that would be the end of baseball this year.

Or so we thought. . . .

The night started off shaky. Four of the kids didn’t bother to show up. This put us at only 9 players and the league rule was that if you only had 9, you had to take an automatic out every inning which would have put us at a major disadvantage and one our struggling team definitely didn’t need. But one of the players had a little brother in the next level down, and 5-year old Jackson stepped up and played on the team last night as a substitute (which is allowed by league rules). So we were back to full strength. Whew.

We were up to bat first and with our best batters up first, we actually made two runs that first inning.

“Wow” us parents thought. “They got a good start, good for them.”

Let me tell you, the excitement was just starting!

I won’t do a play by play of the entire game – one, because I’m not really that big a sports person and two, I can’t remember half of them – but this was the most amazing game our boys have played all season long!

Apparently, the teams were well matched, because in the early innings, each made runs. But then things started looking badly for our kids. The other team was winning, first by two, then by one. And then Caleb stepped up to the plate.

He gripped the bat and stared down the pitching machine. He dug his heels into the dirt. He was READY.

I was PRAYING.

Then he HIT IT!

He was so surprised he almost didn’t run. But he managed to drop the bat and head to first base. As the other team tried to get the ball over to first, they overthrew (like our team usually does) and Caleb was shocked to see his coaches motioning him on to second. As he touched the second base and we were all cheering wildly from the stands, he did his signature fist pump. “Yeah, I did it!” He hit a double!

The next batter hit it hard and Caleb was actually able to make it to home plate and score a run for the team, a first for him. The farthest he’s ever made it was third base.

There were other happy stories last night. Another little boy, Christopher, had never hit the ball. All season long. His dad was an assistant coach on the team and his mom usually sat near me on the bleachers. She finally told me last night that Christopher has a degenerative eye condition that causes his eyes to constantly move… they have a really hard time staying still and focusing on one thing. No wonder the poor kid has trouble hitting the ball!

Last night, his mom was getting frustrated. She just wanted her son to hit the ball once. So did I. The first time at bat, Christopher struck out. The second time at bat, he did manage to tip it but still wasn’t able to hit it and run. The third time he came up to bat, his mom was practically standing up. I heard her whisper, Please God, just let him hit it once, please? I’d been praying too. Let this little boy have a hit; let him have a great ending too.

“Whack!”

Christopher, the boy who had never made a hit, hit that ball hard and made it to first! And with the help of his teammates who also hit, he actually got to round the bases and make it home. His mom was ecstatic. And all I could say was “YAY GOD!”

Our team ended up actually winning the game, 9 to 7! We are now officially in the double elimination tournament which starts Wednesday.

But would you believe, that with this being the most exciting game of our little boys’ season, that not one parent brought a camera? Not one parent had thought to capture it on video or to take pictures? We had all done that in earlier games but none of us came last night expecting anything great from our kids. We had all expected much different results. The only camera I had with me was on my phone… thank goodness for at least that!

And that’s when God reminded me. He ALWAYS comes with a camera. He ALWAYS comes to us, each day, expecting us to do something great. He is ALWAYS there, cheering us on, with anticipation and hope and love and an expectancy that we can do it. That we can score. That we can win one for the team. That we will do our best.

Last night, us parents cheered louder and harder than we have all season. And I think God does that for us. He wants us to do well, He wants us to succeed. He never comes expecting an average performance. He always assumes we will do our best. Doesn’t mean we will get everything right all of the time, but that we will come to each and every thing in our lives with a positive attitude and the knowledge that He is there, rooting us on.

Expecting our very best.