You win some and lose some ...

Once again it's been a while ...

We are in full summer mode ... and I love this time with the kiddos. We've played outside til dark and had late night movie watching, followed but sleeping in and lazy mornings. There's been a whole lot of swimming. And most the time, there is a parade of kiddos (the neighborhood pack) through the house.

We've had no schedule. And for a season, it feels nice.

Pie had her first "spend the night." And she made it! As I write this morning, she and her little friend are sleeping in the fort we made in the living room late last night. The girls stayed out til dark, making a "leaf stew" and doing somersaults on the lawn. They concocted an experiment the kitchen and watched a movie. Nothing that I had planned but they seemed to enjoy the evening.




Nothing I had planned.
Expectations.
I seem to have an abundance of those for any given situation. And more often than not my so-called plan does not go as planned. I know I try to make things perfect, and everyone else is perfectly content with what is. Perfectly content. Something I admire in my husband, my kiddos and many others.
I struggle with that.

Bub has spent the past weeks on an all-star baseball team. It was a team he wanted to try-out for. He did. He made it. And the commitment was grand. So much more so than he 9or we) knew. Practice every day for three hours for two weeks. Then a week long tournament.
Bub didn't know what to expect going in and at moments (a 95 degree afternoon and its time for practice) he was overwhelmed. But he worked hard, never gave up, and learned an abundance about a sport he loves.
The tournament was interesting, exciting to watch, and ended in a way I have never seen before. The boys lost their first game but won their second. So, in a double elimination tournament, they had to win their next game to even stay in.
They were down in the bottom of the last inning but built such a momentum as a team, started hitting, stealing, scoring .... like we hadn't seen before. They wanted the win. With two outs one boy hit a triple, bringing in two more runs, the ump called the game. A victory! The boys celebrated (as did the parents), high-fived the their opponents, and left the dug out. Two new teams even took the field as it was being watered down. It was at that point the umpires and the scorekeeper returned and said that there was a mistake made when the umpire called the game and in fact we hadn't won ... we were still down by two. Such confusion. The took the new teams off the field, gathered our boys back, made them go back into the dug out and resume the game! The boys were confused and had lost the momentum they had built up. So with one pop fly, the game was over and they lost! Tears ...

Celebration to tears ....
Within moments they were moving on in the tournament to going home.

As a parent my heart ached for the boys. As a parent I was frustrated. But then I heard the boys in a huddle and on e of them said, "(The score keeper) is human and she made a mistake. " Wow!
And later, despite the disappointment, Bub said, "I'm sad but I but the umpire and the score keeper feel even worse." Wow!

I was proud of the all the boys, not only for the way they played but for their attitudes, their hearts. A lot was learned about sport but even more was learned about sportsmanship.

You never know what is going to happen from one minute to the next. It's certainly not by our will, control or plan. The only thing we can control is our heart and our reaction to circumstances. Whether it be because of an unexpected call in a baseball game or an unexpected call in school, work or just life.

I always try to teach the kiddos about grace and mercy, accepting what is and finding the joy, the good, in every situation. Not that I'm a master at it ... more like a beginner. But I have a "master" of a husband who truly enjoys life, does not worry, accepts and has joy. Watching him with the kids is amazing and I too, learn so much from him.

I know my struggles ... I also know what I want to be ...

It's a journey ...

"Life is full of daily treasures ... Take each day slowly so that each treasure you find can be a source of joy to fill your heart."