Baseball Family #4
Fans of the Game & Family
I grew up watching baseball any chance I could. I became a fan of several players through my years. Though I had many players I cheered for there have always only been two teams for me to cheer. The Texas Rangers played 20 minutes from our house when we lived in Fort Worth, Texas. They became my team even though they honestly just were not that good. I would listen on the radio or when I got lucky they would be on television.
When I was 12 we moved to Lubbock, Texas and got this wonderful thing called cable. All of the sudden my baseball options expanded a little. I began watching the Atlanta Braves on TBS but it just didn’t fit for me. They were decent and winning games, but I just couldn’t cheer for them. Then one afternoon I was doing homework and happened to find WGN on our TV. As soon as I heard Harry Carey call half an inning I was hooked. The Chicago Cubs became my other team. I rationalized it because they were in the National League and the Rangers in the American League. It has been a life dream that they would meet in the World Series one day.
I tell you about those two teams because we are all fans of a team. Maybe you are not into baseball that much, but you have a team you root for when they play. Fans can sometimes just be downright crazy at times. We root and cheer like crazy when it is going good for our team. Then a play later we are cussing and yelling and wonder why we ever rooted for this team at all. We spend money on uniforms and shirts whatever we can to show our allegiance to our team. But, most of all we enter every season with the eternal hope of this being our year. Even when it is not our year we always hold onto the belief that next year will be our year.
When it comes to our families we have to be fans as well. It may look a little different than for a sports team but there are some similarities between the two. Proverbs 17:6 says..Old people are proud of their grandchildren, and children are proud of their parents. What if we began to cheer and root for our families as strongly as we do a baseball team? When we celebrate the good times and successes of our families, then the momentum can grow and more good things will come our way. The people in our families need to hear our cheers and know that we are pulling for them. It is not enough to have thoughts; we must express them out loud so they hear it in their own hearts. It is important that in our quiet times with family they hear our cheers and know that we are rooting for them to win.
Then there is the other side of cheering. When disappointments and mistakes come into our families we can cuss and yell or we can take another tactic. The Bible talks about this tactic in Numbers 14. The Lord doesn’t become angry quickly, but he has great love. He forgives sin and law breaking. God shows us to be patient, kind and forgiving when it comes to the mistakes and disappointments. We have to understand that there are errors, strike outs and missed plays in every game. Are we going to be willing to not cuss and yell, but to be calm and forgiving with our families? I know it is a tall order, but every once in a while we need to remember that it will be us in need of patience and forgiveness one day.
It is also crucial to prove our love for our family to the people near our family. Jesus told his disciples that people would know they follow him when they loved each other. There comes the time we buy the uniforms and declare to all who see us just what team we are cheering for and proud of the most. We need to make sure that anyone who sees us knows how much our family means to us. If we will let others know then they will not question our loyalty to our teams or family. It will stop the trouble that can come to us when other’s try to get us to cheer for another team. Our loyalty on display will keep the people who root against our family out of our dug out.
Then there is everlasting hope we have for our teams. Our family needs to feel we have that same hope for them. That no matter what the score or the inning we are going to be alright. To believe we do not have to wait until next year for a win. Hope is a belief that we will make progress each day towards the winning season our family longs to enjoy. If the Cubs taught us anything in 2016 it was that if you endure and not lose hope you might just see a championship that will be celebrated for years. It erased years of disappointment and pain. Hope kept me watching for 38 years to finally watch the W flag fly over Wrigley field.
Our families need fans. Someone has to believe in us. Because we cannot be guaranteed that anyone else will be cheering for us at all. So we better put on our rally caps and let everyone know who our home team is and how proud we are to be able to wear the uniform.