Baseball and stories

Jun. 6, 2006 - Baseball and Stories
I can't even begin to tell you how much I love baseball season! I love the running all over the place, trying to get stains out of AJ's uniform, searching for cleats. I love the sun beating down at the noon game and the dew on my tennies at the 9am game ... Gatorade and water bottles. Freckles that weren't there at the beginning of the season, now smeared with dirt. Determination that plants itself firmly in the heart of the boy who has discovered how much he loves to win ... and hates to lose. The elation of the boy who makes an incredible catch. Pure joy in the voice of the kid who says to his Dad, "DID YOU SEE THAT?? I DID IT!" And the Dad whose voice cracks and eyes gleam as he tells about the catch or the hit or the throw.

So many life lessons in a game!

I also love stories. I love the stories in blogs, short stories, novels, poetry, movies, music and over iced tea. This weekend, we heard lots of stories over gallons of iced tea. But my favorite story of the weekend came in the line of a sappy movie( I love sappy movies). The movie was Dreamer with Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Shue. There are a BUNCH of life lessons in this movie, but my favorite(for this period of my life) was in the middle ... husband (KR) and wife (ES) are getting ready for bed, husband/dad is excited for the daughter's(DF) determination, but has a list of reasons the idea will never work! Wife turns to husband and says, "Remember dreams, Ben? Well, this is Cale's. Help her live it." What wise advise! Not let her have it or let her live it but help her live it.

How often do we watch our children and really take the time to help them live their dreams. Encourage them to dream. Encourage them to reach for heights that seem unreachable! I'm afraid, often in an effort to sideline disappointment, we discourage our kids from even trying ... and end up limiting their experiences.

So many life lessons in a movie!

When my head hits the pillow tonight and I'm recounting my many blessings- at the top of the list will be dreams - those that are just developing in the hearts that live under our roof and the ones that have wings and are about to take flight! I'll be thankful for our time together and that for this time we are homeschooling and can foster those dreams. I'll be thankful for stories that remind us of what's important and what's just filler! I'll be thankful for the boy who made the diving catch and believes he can take on the world ... but doesn't want to call his Grandpa and brag because pride is "a dangerous thing."

That's okay ... I've already called his Grandpa!