July 16

One day last week, Isaac offhandedly mentioned that he'd yet to win any of the daily competitions at his baseball clinic. He didn't complain, per se, but I could tell that it bothered him.

So my heart smiled this afternoon when I picked him up from his classes and he shared that he'd won not one but both of the day's competitions: one in pitching, one in hitting.

Success isn't the end-all, be-all of life, of course. I firmly believe that it's better to be a good, honest person than it is to be on top of the heap. But it was a blessing to see his hard work pay off in a tangible way since an ounce of success can prompt scores of additional effort.