Seth's baseball game

Seth had a baseball game early Saturday morning. He was scheduled to pitch and he and I were going to work on his fundamentals that morning before the game. But..., I forgot that I had a hike scheduled with the young women and had promised that I would be there as the priesthood leader. The hike was a lot of fun! However, Seth's practice session with me had to be cancelled. To make matters worse, I missed the game. While I was on the hike, Shannon was giving me updates. I prayed and felt comforted that Seth would be fine. However, Seth pitched and didn't make it out of the inning because he was having a hard time throwing strikes. He was devastated and a little disappointed that his dad was not there for him. He was so upset at himself after he was replaced and put at third base that he was having a hard time not crying. Sometimes it is hard being the Bishop's son! However, one of the things I have learned as Bishop, is that Heavenly Father blesses the families of Bishops when they are serving. After the game Seth and I had a long heart to heart about being mentally tough and confident. It was a great opportunity to sit down and have a great conversation about sports and life.

Well, this week, we went back at it. With new confidence and a better mental approach to pitching, we practiced. Seth had a game tonight. He was put in to close out the game in the last inning with his team ahead. His team, the Angels had lost four or five games in a row. I was a nervous parent. Seth calmly took the mound and started throwing strikes. He was also throwing the ball very hard. Harder than I have ever seen him throw in a baseball game. 10 pitches later, 9 for strikes, with 2 strikeouts, and a weak grounder to first base and the Angels were winners again. Seth was all smiles. He also was 3/3 at the plate with two singles and a triple. His coach gave him the game ball.

Posted by Joel