We made pretty good time getting into San Antonio yesterday in spite of some kind of traffic holdup just west of Houston on Interstate 10. It didn't last all that long, though, and we were never stopped for very long. We still have no real idea what the reason was. Chris did see a set of 18 wheeler skid marks that began on the other side of the highway and ended in the ditch on our side. That would have made for a holdup much more severe than what we experienced, though. And there was no longer any sign of the truck. Just one of those typical random, Houston-type, slow-down-and-enjoy-the-scenery pauses that refresh your appreciation of a simpler time.
Chris did get to see bluebonnets. In fact the closer we got to San Antonio, the more patches we did see popping up. There was even one of those whole fields of bluebonnets that was so impressive a car had stopped and some girls were just roaming through it. Very pretty.
We went to Zakary's first baseball practice of the season. He's in a YMCA version called Pitch and Tee. Has some unusual rules. Every kid on the team has five chances to hit a pitch every inning. The coach pitches for four of them, and if a hit hasn't occurred by then, they let the kid knock it off a tee. I'm not sure how they handle it when a kid gets on base, though. Head coach Josh did say that they keep score, so I guess that'll come later. There were a few boys who had never played before, and it showed. On the other hand there were some who could either throw really well or hit almost anything Josh threw. Just not so much both. Josh was obviously rusty as well. He was having some trouble getting the pitches close enough for them to hit. I encouraged him to stick with it. He'd get better with practice.
He has one of "those" Moms to deal with. Chris and Christi had the privilege of listening to her tell her story … the whole practice. Apparently once she started talking, it never stopped. She informed them that she was the consummate Little League mom. She had been a coach before, so she knew everything. And besides, she had read all the rules, so she knew them, too. She had an older son, so she had been through it all before. In fact the reason they had signed up for this particular league was because she had been kicked out of the previous one for "getting onto the umpire's case. So these umps in this league better watch out and do their job or I'll get all over them, too." Christi's gentle comment (made to herself at the time) was, "Apparently she didn't read the rules all that well. This is the YMCA league. They don't pay to have umpires." Ah. That means she'll have to have someone to whom to impart her vast array of knowledge and experience in ostentatious (and loud) ways. And who better to benefit from her offerings than … the head coach? Enjoy your season, Josh.
Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you."
Father, give Josh – and Kel, for that matter – the patience to deal with their respective Little League moms, and the wisdom to impart baseball knowledge to their young charges, and the patience to communicate You in the process. Amen.
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