February 14

Ah, Valentine's Day. Our day of love began with Isaac heading off to camp, but not as a camper or a work crew volunteer this time. One of the leaders for the Young Life middle school Presidents' weekend camp got sick, so they asked Isaac to step in as a leader. He's in charge of a cabin of eighth grade boys and I'm praying that he has a great time (and is filled with a huge dose of patience for his charges).

Then several additional hours were spent at the high school watching the freshmen boys finish up tryouts with an intersquad scrimmage. Brady was the first pitcher up and, to be blunt, he struggled. Badly. He's been sick all week and felt particularly awful this morning, but he knew it was important to show so he suited up and hit the diamond. I could tell from the first warm-up pitch that his velocity was way (way) down, and the boys took advantage. Fortunately, he played good defense and had a nice hit too, so hopefully his success earlier in the week will make up for today's gaffe on the mound. (And hopefully the black eye he gave himself getting into the car after --yep, getting into the car ("why is the door frame curved like that?!")-- will heal up soon, too.

Nonetheless, it was good to be outside. It was good to watch my baby play his first game on the Varsity field. It was good to have brief conversations with some friends. And although our Valentine's Day didn't offer much traditional drippy-candled Valentine'ing (aside from the chocolates and peanut butter pretzels and large Conversation hearts I got for the boys and Adam and the candy and flowers Adam got for me), it was still full of love in more practical forms. So for that, I am grateful.