Photo courtesy of Chris Hawks: FCA parent, teacher & photographer
My granddaughters, ages 10 and 13, are playing competitive softball this summer. I remember watching them in their earliest days of softball. As tiny beginners, they would stand tentatively at the plate flinching at pitches gracefully lobbed by their coaches. If the bat miraculously happened to get in the way of the pitch, my cheering would dissolve into a cringe as they ambled to first. Later, l would bite my tongue as they stood flat footed in the outfield, turning their head as they watched the ball roll past while their coaches screamed from the dugout, “Get the ball!” If you’re a sport parent or grandparent, you’re nodding—you know the ecstasy and the agony. You’ve been there, done that and got the t-shirt to prove it.
Then it happens… somehow, out of nowhere over the years… those little girls grow into competitive ballplayers! What happens that makes such an enormous difference in their approach to the game? It isn’t just skill—many are naturally coordinated. And it isn’t just repeated bad performance that turns them into competitive ballplayers. Oh sure, the practices and the coaching make it happen, but there is one more vital aspect of the sport. It’s when they see other girls their age who “get it” before they do.
I’ve watched my granddaughter’s team take the field for warm ups, chatting about their day…talking about what they’re doing after the game. They slowly go through the motions, lobbing the ball around the infield… and then a well prepared team takes the field. The ball cracks into a mitt, sand flies as they scramble for the ball, and the chatter is purely competitive. All eyes are on the warrior on the mound who smacks her glove on her thigh and delivers an underhand rocket straight down the pipe! The parents whisper, “Oooh, this isn’t good…they’re good!” But I’ve learned to rejoice in this environment. I realize my granddaughter’s team is seeing, perhaps for the first time, what softball is supposed to look like. That experience, in my opinion, is the tipping point for every youngster in sports. No amount of coaching can fully prepare a young person for their exposure to peers who are real competitors.
As I was thinking about this, the Holy Spirit gently nudged me about how perfectly that example applies to our own Christian growth. We need to be around others who are living the real Christian life… who are making the real faith-plays… who are diving for the ball spiritually. People who “get it” better than we do. This is one of the most compelling reasons we need our local church. We need to be spurred on to greater heights spiritually as we walk with and encounter other believers who pursue Christ with all their hearts. This is why my Life Church Family is so important to me. I need the relationship of other disciples (disciples are Christians who “get it”), who aren’t willing to merely trot to home plate but run with all their heart toward the Savior. I want to be one who, when our Lord greets me, hears, “Well played, good and faithful servant.
I want to slide into home in a dirty jersey. Are you with me?
Relationships… Not Religion
Please join us Sunday morning at 10:00 AM as we continue learning how to be in “Relationships… Not Religion.” This week we’ll compare healthy and unhealthy relationships, understand the rhythm of relationships, and talk about respecting relationships.
Beth Moore Conference Tickets
Ladies, would you like to make some new girlfriends at Life Church? Then come with us to the “Living Proof Live” conference featuring Beth Moore and Travis Cottrell in Columbus on Friday, August 12 and Saturday, August 13! Tickets are $65 and payment is due Sunday, June 12. Please contact Marilyn or Amy if you’d like to join us!
What does “ff” mean?
Q: Last week, the the bulletin said to read 1 Cor. 12:12 ff. What does “ff” mean?
A: Technically, this is abbreviation of the Latin folio (“on the next page”). One f means to read one more verse, two f’s means to read several following verses. It may be easier to think of it as “fast forward!”