Pride

Pride is known as one of the seven deadly sins.

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.  Proverbs 11:2   

As a mother, I would like to think that being proud of your children and their accomplishments does not fall under that category.  It's amazing how much pride you can feel as a parent.  I hope that my children learn the lesson in the above verse because I want them to grow up to be compassionate and humble.  On the flip side, I want them to become confident in themselves and their abilities.  A little pride in themselves can't be a bad thing either.  Do I want them to be arrogant and boastful?  No.  Do I want them to be sure of themselves and proud of their achievements?  You bet.
     
None of this is more apparent than when watching youth sports.   Last night was K's team's first game of "coach pitch" instead of straight t-ball.  Considering these kids are three- and four-year-olds and very few of them have ever had a ball pitched to them before this week, they did amazingly well.  They all batted three times, and K only needed to hit off the tee once.  My heart felt like it could burst when she made contact those other two times.  A monumental moment?  Not really, but definitely worthy of some cheers and applause.  

Today J's game went decidedly in our favor.  To the tune of 20-1.  For the past two years, both in football and baseball, J's team has been on the losing side of scores like that, so it's really nice to be part of the winning team for once.  Having been on the receiving end of routs like that, though, definitely gives me (and I hope J) the wisdom to be compassionate to the other team.  I believe we can be happy that we won without being arrogant by putting the other team down.  After all, everyone is giving their best effort.  Being proud of ourselves shouldn't come with the cost of bad sportsmanship.  Our guys displayed that very well today.  After one inning was over, one of our players was running off the field and he looked at a boy on the other team and as he passed by he said, "Good job, catcher."  It wasn't even my son but I can't even tell you how proud I was. 

On a side note, J is notorious for swinging at high pitches.  Not just high, but over-his-head high.  The coaches warn him every time he's up to bat, and even the fans have been known to toss a "Watch out for the high ones" at him.  I've resorted to bribing my son.  I told him before his last game that if he didn't swing at any high pitches AND didn't strike out looking, I would give him five dollars.  Well, he swung at a high one so he lost the money that game.  Today he earned his payoff.  His first at-bat he swung at the first pitch and got a base hit.  I missed his second at-bat but I found out he hit the ball but was thrown out at first.  His third at-bat he ended up getting hit by a pitch (on the shoe!), and both times he was on base he scored.  A well-deserved $5 in my humble opinion!     

(I have to add that I probably won't have very many more baseball pictures to post.  My camera is a jinx for Jared, and since I've stopped bringing it, we've been winning, so I'm going to be a little superstitious and leave it at home!)