DON’T YOU REALIZE THAT IN A RACE EVERYONE RUNS,BUT ONLY ONE PERSON GETS THE PRIZE? SO RUN TO WIN!” 1 Corinthians 9:24

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love baseball. When I was growing up, my father either played or coached baseball. His passion for the game never dwindled up until the day he died. When dad was coaching his goal was to instill that same love into the hearts of his players. This was never more evident than when he was coaching Little League when we were stationed in Germany in the late 60’s. The Little League field was in the flight path of the passenger jets that flew into the Frankfurt International Airport and often times play would have to be stopped while they passed over the area. My father taught his team to be focused on and fascinated with the game, and that nothing should distract them from that moment. That perspective made his team the best 2 years, running with a perfect record of no losses. They were 31-0, the perfect team almost, one more win in the final playoff game and they would be most winning team ever in the history of Minor Little League at Rhine Main Air Base. The distractions had been null in that final game, and in the top of the ninth with the score 1-0, everything hinged on the opposing team failing to score. In the middle of the 9th inning with a man on third, a huge Pan Am jet cast a shadow over the field, dad’s team remained focused as a pinch hitter came up to bat, all but his left fielder who appeared to be distracted by the presence of the massive plane that hovered above the field. He had turned to watch it fly over the fence, and totally missed the first two pitches that resulted (thankfully) in strikes. In a rare moment, dad called a time out, and walked casually out to where his left fielder stood gazing at the jetliner as it flew out of sight. He turned around just in time to see dad face to face. Dad exchanged words with the young man, shook his hand and made his way back to the other end of the field near third base. The pitcher threw the ball, the pinch hitter swung, and cracked his bat to make a perfect hit to the inner left field. It flew past the first base man, and directly into the glove of the left fielder who had run up to stand a mere six inches behind him. Game over, they reached their goal of 32-0. Later when asked what the coach had said to him the player said,”Coach asked me if I wanted to finish the game, or walk through the gate and watch the airplaines on the other side. I had to make a choice to be in or out of the game, to help finish what we had started, or not be a part of it all. I chose to stay. Something told me to move in closer, I am glad I did.” O LORD, THANK YOU FOR THE LIFE RACE YOU HAVE GIVEN US TO RUN. WE LOVE YOU, LORD, AND WE WANT TO RUN OUR RACE WITH JOY AND WITH OR EYES FOCUSED ON YOU, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT WE, TOO ARE RUNNING FOR OUR LIFE.”