Apr. 20, 2008 - Homeschool Baseball
Years ago when my now 19 year old son was about to enter Jr. High we had a big decision to make. See one of his favorite things to do was play baseball and he was very good at it. He would soon be too old to play with the local city league and the only homeschool option was a long drive away. Back then babies were still coming every year or so and the time commitment was just to much. So, my dh who is never one to sit still and let a good idea pass him by decided to start a homeschool team in our area. Many years later we have a thriving program (www.northsidefalcons.com) with both a High School and Jr. High program. This past week the team competed in the 9th annual homeschool world series west regional tournament. Four teams from each region advance to the world series held in Fla. next month. Although the Falcons did not advance the team played some great games and had alot of fun. If your interested in learning more about this you can check out www.hwsa.net Anyway, after being gone all week my oldest son (who was coaching) and my oldest daughter (who was score keeping) are homeagain. We sure have missed them. So, do I have a point to this? I quess just that our entire family is involved in this great program in one way or another. Over the years it has bought both difficulties and joys and God has used it to teach us many lessons. And not just us but the whole team. I have read articles that claim competitive sports are not good for christains to be involved in but I beg to differ. Our boys have learned to win and lose graciously, to lift up their team mates, to help and lift up those who may not play as well and still be humble when they bring in the winning run. The moms get together and pray before each game and the boys pray together both before and after. They have even prayed for and with the competing team. These guys are learning through baseball to do their best and then no matter what the outcome, win or lose, to give the glory to God. Many public school coaches and even the umpires see how different our team is and my experience is that most of the homeschool teams act in the same God honoring fashion. So, if your kids like to play sports and there is a homeschool team near you give it a try and maybe I'll get to meet up with you in the bleachers!
