Summer Rental

Over the past few weeks I have been doing some regular posting to my site on tumblr. The more I use it the more I am really starting to like the simplicy of it. The posts are shorter and much more random, but the same can be said for my attention span. This post is to just make those that might be missing it aware that I’m doing some regular posting on that site for the summer. After that, we’ll make a decision on a permanant home. Miss a day and you’ll miss a lot!

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Title Town

One thing I will never do is apologize for being a proud father. For the second straight summer “the boy” has been on a championship little league team. Last year the city league Marlins won the title with a bottom of the 6th rally that will forever go down in our memory. They went from needing 2 runs to not be “mercy ruled” to just needing 3 outs in the top of the 7th to secure the title! It was a great game and memory.

When the winter rolled around we were approached about playing in an independent travel league this summer. While other players needed to literally “make this team”,  no tryout was necessary. They already had a roster spot reserved for “the boy” if he wanted it.  I have to be honest and say that when we agreed to give it a shot, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We were not briefed on the financial costs and time commitments of this league (and probably should have asked more questions) so when they started practicing IN JANUARY, we were a bit shocked. More than one snowy evening this winter we made our way to the indoor pole barns of the Franklin County Fairgrounds to practice the very basics of baseball. They broke the team down to the very beginning and taught them one step at a time.

When May rolled around and the games began, our beloved Colts started the season with 6 straight loses. We were starting to wonder if we would ever win a game. Then the kids started putting it all together. By the end of the season, they were 26-14. On Saturday they entered the season ending tournament as a lower seed and ran the table. By the end of the evening Saturday night they were Central Ohio Youth Baseball League Champs! The parents literally had as much, if not more fun than the kids. We gathered together Saturday night for an after party and stayed until late in the evening.

Lastly, I need to speak directly of my son. Those that know him know he is pretty shy and a touch sensitive. After an early season explanation that when a coach yells at the team..he is yelling at THE TEAM and not directly at you, he came back strong.

• He led the team in Home runs
• He was among the team leaders in doubles, triples and RBI
• He was placed in Right Center field for the soul purpose of making plays.
• He reached base in but one at bat on Saturday (3 games)
• He rocked 2 triples, a double and had 4 RBI in the decisive semi-final game on Saturday.

Beyond his accomplishments, I am most proud of who he is. While he is quite possibly one of the most competitive people in our house and hates to lose, he never complained, acted up or caused his coaches a problem this summer. He played the game with respect and with humility. I watched him grow and learn and get better as the season wore on. So congratulations to all of the Hilliard Colts! Especially number 23. That’s my boy!!

Letter To Me

I can’t get this song/thought out of my head today. Somehow, I stumbled across this song by Brad Paisley yesterday. I like the concept of the song and the video that goes with it. So for the past 24 hours or so (even in my sleep), I have been thinking of the many things I would write to myself at age 17. Obviously it’s not possible, but taking the time to reflect on the many lessons learned the past (*cough*) 21 (*cough*) years has been interesting. Let me just say that the letter would be REALLY long. Knowing me..at 17…I probably wouldn’t have read it because it was so long. These lyrics were hauntingly accurate though.

Your Turn: If you could write a letter to yourself at 17, what would it say?

“Wide Awake” Quotes

I have been reading the book “Wide Awake” by Erwin McManus recently. This is a great book. I have folded the corner of at least every other page (a signal that I liked something on that page) and underlined a majority of it. As an added bonus, I found out this week that Erwin graduated from none other than The University of North Carolina!  I will be sharing many of his quotes but here are just a few so far:

The unknown with God is better than the known without him

I think a lot of us are not on a path; we’re in a rut. We have confused comfort with peace, belief with faith, safety with wisdom, wealth with blessing, and existence with life.

Now what you have to ask yourself is this: am I willing to move from what I have to what I could create? Am I willing to give up what I know for what I don’t know? Do I keep shrinking back to the life I have because it’s the default mode for existence? Am I willing to risk everything I have to create the life you could have? This is the same tough choice that those who came before us and were marked by faith had to make.

Faith pushes you to pursue a God-sized dream, and hope pulls and inspires you to never quit until it is a reality.

To make even one dream come to reality, many other dreams have to be sacrificed on the altar of your imagination.