Fun

Fun. I have completely enjoyed watching the first few days of the Little League World Series. The pure excitement and joy on the faces of these eleven and twelve year olds makes it so enjoyable to watch. The pride in the faces of their parents as they are being interviewed about their children cannot be hidden. I enjoy watching these kids play so much more than I do watching professionals play.

I love how they get so excited for each other and pick each other up when they make mistakes. It’s not just their own teammates that they celebrate, if an opposing player hits a homerun, they all give him a high five as they circle the bases. There seems to be no animosity between the players or coaches on opposing teams. When someone happens to get hurt, you can see the concern the players on the opposing team has for that player’s welfare.

We can all take a valuable lesson from these kids. They have a complete understanding that what they are doing is playing a game, and at the end of that game, it doesn’t really matter who won or lost but if they played the best they could. What if we, as Christians, cared less about winning and losing this thing called life, and instead worried about “playing” it right?

What if we cheered on others like these kids do, whether they are on our team or not?  What if we, like the players lifted each other up when we fail instead of talking about those that messed up?  What if we beamed with pride for believers that accomplished something great instead of tearing them down and finding faults in what they did?  How much more will our Christian life reflect the life of our Savior?

These kids playing the game of baseball have such a wonderful faith in humanity at such a young age. They don’t care about differences they have with the other kids not on their team, they care about the similarities they share with them instead. “And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” - Matthew 18:2-4.

Sometimes children can teach us better than we can teach them. All we have to do is step back and look once in a while to see what innocence and faith come from those that have yet to be soured by the world.

Have a great day and God bless.