This past week I've been in Atlanta watching my youngest grandson play in a 12u baseball tournament. He lives in Texas, and his team joined 75 other teams from 22 states to compete in this tournament. They won their first six games before losing in the semifinal game to the #1 ranked team in the US.
Yes, these 12-and-under teams are ranked, and play some amazing baseball. Many of these pitchers throw over 70 MPH with some hitting in the high 70s. With the shorter distance to home plate this would be the equivalent to fastballs coming in over 90 MPH. This was a level of youth baseball I've never seen. The hitting was just as amazing as the pitching with a number of home runs. To cap it off, I saw some incredible fielding as well.
What I enjoyed as much as anything was the passion with which these young men played the game. While the major leagues is dealing with union talks about resuming the season and playing with no fans in the seats, these kids are out there simply playing a game they love. There might not be a minor league season this year either, but there is a lot of good baseball being played in parks around the country by young men who are playing just for team pride.
It was also great being with our son and grandson for the week as well. Since they live in Texas, we don't get to see them as often as we would like, so getting to spend an entire week with them was wonderful.
In my last post before taking these days off I wrote about a pastor's self-care. This is an example of what that looks like. Taking time from the church to create memories with family and loved ones. The house we rented had a pool table so we played a lot of pool after the games. We tried new restaurants. We enjoyed the ball games, and it was nice for my wife and I to just relax away from the phone and get away from social media.
Practicing self-care, taking mental-health days, is good for you, your family and your church. Make sure you leave time in your schedule for plenty of such times.
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