May 4

There's a lot of unbridled joy in this photo, and Brady is right in the center of it.

It was the bottom half of the last inning of the second game of today's doubleheader. The score was knotted at 8 runs each, and there were two outs. Brady stepped up to the plate, bat in hand, and I held my breath and silently prayed for a good outcome. And then whack! The ball went flying toward the outfield and soared over the left fielder's head. Game over. As Brady trotted toward second base, his teammates sprinted from the dugout, and the celebration commenced. There was helmet-slapping and water-pouring and lots of cheering and huge, goofy grins.

And afterward, as we walked toward the car, Brady pulled a baseball from his back pocket --the baseball-- and casually showed me how the bright red stitches were ripped. We agreed that the pitcher would've rejected the ball if it'd been torn pre-pitch, so he must've hit it hard enough to create the damage. He grinned as he put his prize back in his pocket for safe-keeping. And I smiled and shook my head.

It will no doubt be a core memory for him in the years to come. And given how the game started for him, it could've had a very different outcome. I didn't mention this up front, but he was game two's starting pitcher and to be blunt, he wasn't very sharp. He labored through 2 2/3 innings before the coach finally took him out. He could've gotten discouraged and benched himself, but he didn't. Instead, he went out there and literally used his bat to rip the stitches out of a baseball. And despite his tough start on the mound, he wound up being the hero.

A core moment for sure. And also an excellent reminder that we often go through struggles and challenges before we reap the rewards of our hard work. So we should always, always keep moving forward and always, always keep trying, resting assured that God has a good plan for our lives. (And sometimes, those plans even let us be the heroes.)