I have been fortunate enough to travel the southeast... whenever someone asks me where I am from... I give the standard answer...I am from the small town of Lincolnton, Georgia.... more times than not, they immediately say, "Oh yeah... ya'll are good in football"... Yep... that is us! The little, small town of Lincolnton, GA is known for football. (or the lake)
Today, my stomach is filled with butterflies. I have visited the ghsa.net website for years checking the football brackets, but today I checked it for BASEBALL... yes, we have won region and are now in the play-offs. If my stats are correct, I don't think we have won a play-off game in baseball since 1993... wow...that is a long time.
I have prayed and prayed for these boys since they split the series last night. I know they can do this... I see them every day at school... these boys who hold a special place in my heart. I am fortunate enough to get to teach them~ and of course I love them and treat them as my very own. I have baseball players in all three of my classes. I see it on their faces in the mornings when they come in if they have won or lost... I hear about the what ifs, coulda, shoulda, woulda... I step over the baseball bags... I see the "tiredness" in their eyes... And my favorite... when I lean down and whisper, "would you like me to call Coach W and tell him you aren't doing your best"... They perk right up because they want to impress him. (I tried to say I would call their mamas first, but they didn't really care about that...)
This coach... what a great Christian man he is. I love that at the end of games he leads his team to the outfield and they pray... these little devilish boys who I deal with in the classroom... bow their heads and pray... I love that they are surrounded by a man who is a role model in every sense of the word. He leads a good life... and never gives them any doubt about his faith. May they look back and remember the game of baseball in high school, but mostly... remember how a coach had faith and lead his team to victories with the power of prayer.
Yesterday at the game, I was sitting under a tent right behind homeplate/fence... this lady from the other team told me to go tell that group of men to move who were standing at the fence. This group of men are the "daddies" of the players... they have been standing at the fence since the beginning of the season... they aren't going to move...I knew that... so I told her... "Everyone of those men has a pocket knife...they will cut me if I go tell them to move...." She said that she was there first...I kindly told her that they had been there since the beginning and it might be best if she not say anything to them at all...she rolled her eyes... Bless her if she thinks they will ever move...
We play at noon today... I encourage all those football fans to come out and pack our stands for this baseball game... It really is quite entertaining... unlike the football games, the umpires can hear all the rude, ruthless, inappropriate comments that parents make... my brother having the loudest mouth... Get there early and come watch these hearts for baseball play...Yell, scream, cheer...just like at a ballgame... let our boys know you support them in more than just football...
GO BIG RED!
