Goosebumps

It was real early in the morning and we had just moved to a tiny beach cottage on the sand at Capistrano Beach. That’s when I felt it. As I lay quietly next to my wife in our bed….it washed over me like the sweet fragrance of a foggy mist hovering over the early morning ocean waves.

My wife was sleeping soundly covers pulled up tight and she looked beautiful, so peaceful and relaxed, yet so very vibrant at the same time. I felt it and I sensed she felt it too, even in her sleep. It came upon us as if it were a silent message sent directly by God himself. It felt special, kind of like that feeling you get when a really great song comes on the radio and the singer hits that high note that makes your adrenalin rush and your skin explode with goose-bumps! As I looked at her, I thought about all the things we have been through together, the good times and tough times....and I instantly felt overwhelming love for her. My heart began to swell and my eyes began to tear….and I got goose-bumps!

I’m not sure what it was….but I’m going to call it an “eternal moment”, because it’s one of those moments that you know will forever be remembered!

An eternal moment is a moment in time when time itself doesn’t exist, where everything stops and you feel like, at least for that moment, everything makes sense. It’s a moment that fills more than just a page of your life, it defines your life and gives meaning to the person you have become. Freeze it if you can; savor it and immerse yourself in it for as long as you possibly can. Ten years from now, twenty years from now, you will still be able to recall those “eternal moments” in your life, for they truly are special gifts from God….The day you graduated, the day you fell in love, the birth of your first child, the smell of Grandma’s cooking, or maybe it was the day your Dad told you he was proud of you. Eternal moments are necessary because they remind us that beyond material possessions, there is so much in life to be treasured and most importantly that love is, and always will be, the greatest possession in life.

 

Very early yesterday morning a beautiful double rainbow appeared over the ocean in front of my home and it reminded me of how beautiful life can be when we focus on the right things. I thought about all of the material possessions I have had over my life time and how unimportant they seem compared to God’s love and the love of another human being. I thought about that rainbow and I thought about my wife still sleeping, comfortably warm in our bed, trusting me to protect her and blessing me with all of her love in return.

 

And darn if I didn’t get goose-bumps all over again!

A Double Rainbow appears over Capo Beach on July 2, 2012

 

Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.      ~ Henry Van Dyke

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

A few days ago, on the morning of New Year’s Eve, something woke me up. It sounded like a voice, but I’m not sure what it was. My wife was still sleeping so I stayed in bed longer than usual and thought about all the crazy things that happened to me in 2012. There has never been a year in my life in which things changed so much… and more life lessons were laid upon me.

 

 

There were several important events that occurred, such as my oldest daughter starting Chapman Law School, my youngest daughter graduating College and securing a job as a Paralegal at a Law Firm, my oldest son announcing that his wife was pregnant with their second child, and my youngest son moving to Florida for a new job opportunity that has worked out well. So there was a lot to celebrate, but there were also three life changing events that happened that can only be described as very good, very bad and very ugly!

 

 

The Good…..

My wife and I decided to sell our home. It was a beautiful, huge, three story home with gorgeous views and an acre of land. But with our kids grown and our needs changing, it seemed like a good time to down size. We loved that house because we built it ourselves and lived there over 10 years, but we decided a change might be exciting. After we sold it, we put 90% of our belongings in storage and moved to a tiny beach cottage. We are living simply now and have never been happier nor more in love. Living simply really puts things in the proper perspective!

Living simply at our little Beach Cottage

The Bad…..

One Friday in July, while driving through a busy, crowded parking lot, I accidentally ran over an elderly 84 year old Chinese woman. It was the most traumatic moment of my life. I went with her to the hospital and continued to visit her and pray for her daily. Over and over again I asked God to heal her. She was hospitalized for months but finally recovered and was released in October. The whole thing has been amazing for two reasons, 1) She has never once blamed me for the accident or had a harsh word for me and 2) We have become very close friends. I visit her every single week and take her for walks, and in return she paints me amazing pictures. I guess that poem about Footprints in the Sand is really true. “During your times of trial and suffering, it is then that I will carry you.”

Joe and his special friend....Mrs. Chen





The Ugly…..

In my wholesale lighting supply business there were three key people who had basically been with me since the start. Late in the year I had to release two of those people and it was really hard for me to do because I cared for both people very much. But I had to put that aside and do what was best for the business. The amazing thing is that we hired three new people to take their place and the new people are awesome, which has resulted in our company setting a record for sales in the fourth quarter. I guess making ugly, tough decisions isn’t ever easy, but not making decisions.... guarantees failure!

My awesome staff at Lighting Supply, Inc.

All three events were life changing for me and at the same time......they were important “life lessons” for me to learn. When I finally got out of bed…. I realized whose voice it was that woke me up!

 

                                                   Everything that occurs in your life is

                                                  part of  God's   plan to wake you up.    
                                                                           ~ Leonard Jacobson

 

 

 

The Big Picture

Last Tuesday I had to be at the VA Hospital in LA at 5:45 am for a lighting project. After meeting with the job superintendent my next stop was Norwalk, so I took the 105 freeway through south central Los Angeles. As I passed through Compton it was still dark out so I couldn’t see much (except lots of run down houses and graffiti covered buildings), but then I noticed one small house that actually had Christmas lights shining. It stood out like a burning bush among a patch of tumbleweeds and it reminded me that there are plenty of little children in that area who won’t have much to smile about at Christmas time.

 

As I turned back to focus on the traffic ahead I realized something. While I was deep in thought about the rough neighborhood on both sides of me, I nearly missed the beautiful sunrise that was happening right in front of me. A gorgeous sunrise, full of promise and hope, a reminder that every day has its challenges but every day carries the promise of a new beginning and a better life. But how do we turn those challenges into blessings? The first step is to realize the blessings we have in our own lives, and then reach out, get involved and make the commitment to create a positive difference in someone else’s life. That reminds me of a story.

A man from town asked an old farmer to join a citizen’s group that would work on improving the town. The farmer asked, “Do you want me to be involved or committed?” Puzzled, the man asked, “What’s the difference?” The farmer answered, “It’s like a bacon and eggs breakfast. The chicken is involved, but the pig is committed!”

And that story got me thinking….. I made a commitment to write a Monday Message every week this year and this week’s message completes my third year of realizing that goal, so I am truly happy about that. But I think it’s time to change things up. I need to think about what else I can do to make a positive difference in this world. Writing inspiring stories is one thing, but what about living an inspirational life? For 2012, I vow to get involved in a different worthwhile project every month, commit to it, live it, and then write about it. Stay tuned for something new next year…..Monthly Messages from the front lines!



              The sun slowly rises over South Central LA

 

 

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It's simply not.                   ~Dr. Seuss                                     

The Blackhawks

I thought about it for a really long time. I had made a commitment that I would do some kind of community service project in 2012, perhaps a different project every month, so that I could write about the experience and create a “Monthly Message”. I came up with a few wild ideas, one that even included standing on a street corner handing out free food and advice. (How crazy is that one?) But nothing seemed to be quite right.

Then I got a phone call. A local Little League Team didn’t have a Coach and would have to forfeit their season if someone didn’t step up to help them. My friends and family know that I love baseball and kids, and since I am heavily involved with the Halo Baseball Club already, it makes me a logical choice to be someone who might be good at coaching a team of 13 year old boys. Except for two things…..I haven’t coached Little League in almost 20 years and I am absolutely overwhelmed with work owning my own business. Where would I get the time and the energy to tackle such a heavy commitment?

So I pondered the decision and told the League I would get back to them soon. As it happens I had signed up to attend a baseball camp in Arizona in early January to hopefully become a better ballplayer myself. But as I boarded a plane to fly to Phoenix, it dawned on me that participating in a four-day baseball camp would also give me a huge amount of training and practice tips that I could use to help coach a Little League Team…that is….if I decided I was going to do it?
 

Taking a "photo" break at Pro-Baseball Camp!
Bill, Vic, Joe & Bob

At the “Pro-Baseball Camp” in Arizona I spent a lot of time with Alan Trammell. “Tram” is a former six-time “All Star” who played for the Detroit Tigers. Midway through the camp I asked him a question that had always haunted me. “How do you handle the stress when you’re in a big game and need to relax in order to play well?” It was something I often struggled with but Tram gave me some advice that I instantly took to heart. He told me everyone handles stress differently, but what I do is remind myself to, “See It. Feel It. Trust It.” He went on to explain how those three things can apply to both fielding and hitting. “See the ball into your glove, feel your grip and trust your throw.” For some reason, those three ideas seemed really familiar to me.

 

My locker at camp - right next to Alan Trammell’s!

As I headed back into the players locker room, it suddenly hit me. At Church the previous Sunday, the Pastor spoke about God and reminded us that whenever we are struggling all we have to do is, “See His Face. Feel His Love. Trust His Presence.” At that moment, I knew God was giving me a message, “See It. Feel It. Trust It.” I knew the choice I had to make…and I made it! I am now the coach of the Rancho Santa Margarita Junior American Team called The Blackhawks!



And that got me thinking….. When we were created by God, because of His love for us He gave us the power of choice. By doing so He empowered us with the ability to choose how we live our lives, to choose our priorities and to choose between right or wrong. God has the power of choice and He always chooses what is right. So perhaps…when we see people make the right choices…. we can sometimes see glimpses of God in the people He created!

We were short a few players, but not short on smiles!

Decisions become easier when your will to please God outweighs your will to please the world. ~ Anso Coetzer








So for at least the first six months of this year, I have a part-time community service project. Except that it is more like a part-time job! I have no less than 2-3 practices per week, 2-3 games per week, at least 50 emails to return per week, coaching clinics, umpire clinics and the most time consuming thing of all….making out the line-up card for each game. The line-up card is the hardest part of the job because I have to somehow balance playing time for all the boys, and keep the parents happy, and somehow win a few games.

Our first game was two weeks ago and I guess I didn’t have things balanced quite right yet because we got hammered 17-9. The boys on the team didn’t seem too upset, but I sure was. I felt like I had let them down and let down the parents as well. But then I remembered something my own Dad taught me. He said, “Winning is defined by more than just the score. If you can come away from a loss having learned even one thing that will make you a better player, then you have truly won!”

 

So I gave that speech to my team at the next practice. I then handed each kid a 3x5 note card and asked them to write down one thing they learned from the game that will make them a better player the next time out. The responses I got back were truly inspiring. What was really cool was that every single boy wrote something very different on his card. No two responses were the same. One response, from one of the smallest yet hardest working boys on the team, really hit home with me. It’s shown below. 

Wil's Contribution!

Wil Holt-Hillis

 

Yesterday we played our 4th game of the season and got hammered again 10-2. Our boys are all 13 year olds but the other team was filled with 14 year old players. They had their ace pitcher on the mound who was at 6’ tall and threw bullets. We didn’t get one hit the whole game. Even our best players struck. After the game I noticed that the boys were kind of quiet. Two of my players had been injured, so that didn’t help, plus it was cold, late at night and everyone was tired. As I gathered our team together to give my “after the game speech”, I struggled to say something inspirational. I started out saying I was sorry we lost the game and that I definitely could have done a better job of managing but was interrupted by one of my players who said, “That’s okay Coach, we trust you and we’ll win for sure next time!” Trust…what an important concept!

 

I looked around at the team and realized that what he said was true. They do trust me and that’s an important responsibility. They trust me to be a good coach, to treat them all fairly, to give each kid a chance to learn and grow, to show respect to the umpires and the other team, to demonstrate good sportsmanship and to maybe, just maybe, win a game once in a while. I felt that trust inside and realized I had to keep a positive attitude myself. I guess all I needed was to remember that note card that Wil wrote above and realize “my attitude affects the team” as well. I don’t know how other Coaches feel, but I tell you what, my boys are absolutely the best!

 

Some of the Blackhawks scratch their heads after a tough loss!

 

And that got me thinking….. Trust really is an important concept because it means letting go of the worry and opening up your heart.  When I didn’t know what to do, I decided that I would Trust in God and it worked out really well! And…. isn’t it interesting that the very first line of the Little League Pledge, which we recite together before every single game is.... I Trust in God!

LITTLE LEAGUE PLEDGE

 

I trust in God.

I love my Country.

I will respect its laws.

I will play fair and strive to win.

But win or lose,

I will always do my best!

When I volunteered to coach a Little League Team I knew it was going to be a heavy duty time commitment. I just didn’t know it was going to be such an emotional commitment as well!

The emotional strain occurs when your team loses almost every game they play and nothing you do as their Manager seems to help. Through ten games we only had one win, but in a way it wasn’t really fair (which is true of a lot of things in life) because our team is all 12-13 year old boys whereas the other teams have 13-14 year olds. Fortunately the first half of the season ended at Spring Break and it gave us a chance to recover and regroup.

 

After the Spring Break I told our team to forget the first half of the season, we’re starting over! Everyone worked really hard at practice and our spirits were pretty high until our first game, where we got clobbered once again. That was painful and really demoralizing to everyone, so I decided I had to do something drastic. I decided to break out the Magic Bat! I went home, took the Magic Bat down off the shelf and wiped the dust off of it. The following day, right before the start of our next game, I gathered the team together in the dugout and pulled out the Magic Bat. I then proceeded to explain the story of the Magic Bat.....

The Magic Bat is a huge 35" baseball bat that once belonged to Larry "LP" Poland, a tall, handsome, outgoing and very skilled baseball player who worked for the Los Angeles Angels and was a member of my Halo Baseball Club. When I first joined the club, LP took me under his wing and taught me how to be a better ballplayer. He was always laughing, always smiling, and always full of life because…..well, he was just bigger than life! Men admired him, women loved him and I was fortunate enough to have him as my friend and mentor. What most people did not know was that Larry was also in the midst of turning his life around and becoming a Christian, which was something that really hit home with me.
 

The Magic Bat of "LP"

 Several years ago LP was playing centerfield when he fell and tore up his knee. He wouldn’t let us take him to the hospital until after the game was over, that’s just the kind of guy he was, but we knew the injury was serious. At the hospital, LP had an operation and it looked like it was going to be at least six months before he would be back on the field again.  But in truth, LP never made it back onto the field. A few days after his operation, a blood clot in his leg caused a stroke, which suddenly took his life. Everyone associated with the Halo Baseball Club was devastated. I personally had a really hard time dealing with the loss of such a special friend

After the funeral, I was approached by LP’s best friend who shocked me by handing me LP’s baseball bat. He told me LP would have wanted me to have it. It became my lucky charm and for over a year I took it to every game I went to. After that I mostly kept it on my shelf as a reminder of how important it is to appreciate our friends…while we can. But every so often, if I felt our Halo Baseball Team really needed it, I would bring the LP bat to a game and sure enough, we would all hit really well and win that game.

After telling that story I positioned the Magic Bat at the end of the dugout and told each boy to touch it on his way to the plate. Who knows…It just might work its magic for our team! Sure enough, by the time the dust cleared, our team had hit 1 home run, 2 triples, 4 doubles and a bunch of singles. We won 15 – 4 and you should have seen the excitement and smiles all around. I have never seen a happier bunch of kids in my life (not to mention a few parents smiling for a change as well.) The Magic Bat had worked its magic once again!

After the game I took the boys out to right field for a quick team meeting. The first thing I said to them was actually a confession. “Gentlemen…today you played a great game and made me very proud, but I have a confession. I lied! There is no magic in that big black bat. It’s just a piece of wood. The real “magic” is in you, because today you believed you could do it and you did it. That’s what made the difference. If you believe in yourselves you can accomplish anything! So appreciate this moment, take it in and cherish it. And while you’re at it, cherish your teammates as well, because you never know how long they’re going to be around.”

 
And that got me thinking….. Friendship is a special gift that should never be taken lightly and the only way to truly have a friend…is to be one

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.

                                                                               ~ Walter Winchell

                                                                                                                                                  

Our Little League season was drawing to a close and I was beginning to realize that I was going to miss being a member of this very special team. We actually ended up winning four games, including the one with the “Magic Bat” and another game where the Blackhawks shut out the other team 5-0, albeit without me being there (the only game I would miss all season....how ironic!!!) 

 

But the season was coming to an end and I began to recognize that coaching this Little League Team had been an extraordinary experience for me. I truly bonded with every single boy on the team and enjoyed every single minute of it.

There were so many special moments:

• Opening day where Coach Joe had to instantly memorize the names and numbers of 12 young men…while never, practically ever, getting the parent’s names right!

• The push-up contest where Alex and Wil out performed Coach Joe by completing 45 push-ups to his measly 42!

• The time, halfway through a practice, that I looked down and realized that in my haste to change clothes in my car before practice, I had put my shorts on backwards!

• The time I had one player tell me that he did not want to dive back to 1^st base because he might get injured. So I tried to demonstrate how easy it was, but ended up tearing the skin off my knee! (He got a real laugh out of that!)

• The time Coach Joe got hit in the back of the head by an errant throw, which by the way, was thrown by his Grandson Jared.

Jared (my grandson) leads the team off the field after a close game

• The many times Coach Joe and Riley spent talking man to man about baseball, life and

• Taking Lattime, Sanders and Robitaille to the batting cage for hitting practice and then going out for frozen yogurt afterwards! (Okay so that happens to be my favorite food!)

Broox, intensely focused on the job at hand!

• The time Coach Joe brought 9 of his Halo Baseball Club Members (average age 45) to play a scrimmage game against the Blackhawks (average age 13) and the Blackhawks won!  Dalton and Broox shut them down with great pitching and catching and then everyone downed at least 75 Hot Dogs that day and had a total blast!

• Watching Trevor, the quietest and nicest kid on the team, take the mound and change personalities, blowing hitters away with his surprising fastball!

• The time Coach Joe was late to practice and found Adam leading the team in warm up exercises. (Adam was not known for liking exercise, but there he was, leading the team!)

Adam leads the team with warm up exercises

• The many times Coach Joe and Jake talked about what it’s like to play the infield (we both play second base) and then seeing Jake’s huge smile every time he made a big play!

• Witnessing the special friendship between Riley and Jake that is the type of friendship that you know will last a life time!

Speaking of life times…. I doubt I will ever get another chance in my life time to coach another Little League Team as special as this one. (I am an old man of 57 you know!) But I was given this one chance, this one special gift… and I took it, and I am so glad I did! And, to be honest, there is a special reason that I am so happy to have had this experience at this moment in my life.

You know the old saying that “things happen for a reason”, well I never liked that saying, but maybe it’s true after all. I say that because I now believe coaching the Blackhawks truly did “happen for a reason”. I’ll tell you why. Towards the end of the season I was involved in an auto accident that resulted in an elderly lady being severely injured. It was traumatizing beyond belief. It shook me to my core and caused me tremendous emotional strain. I turned to my faith for support and gave my worries to God. He gave me strength but what also made me feel better was going to the next Blackhawks game and spending time with those boys. Maybe “the reason” I was given the chance to coach the Blackhawks was because God knew I would soon be going through a really difficult time and that being a part of the Blackhawks would make it easier for me to handle. I believe God never gives us more than we can handle but I also believe He gives us people in our lives who can help us through the toughest of times.

In fact on the Friday that the accident happened, my daily Bible passage that day said…...

“With God there are no accidents, only incidents that are designed to draw us closer to Him.”

 

I believe that coaching the Blackhawks was also an incident designed to draw me closer to God, and for that I am very grateful. Thank you God for such a great gift and for helping me realize that things really do happen for a reason!

TEAM BLACKHAWKS!

Alex L, Adam, Michael, Dalton, Alex H, Jake, Trevor, Wil, Riley, Jared, Nate & Broox

It's a Wonderful Life

Last week I had a really scary moment at work. On Monday we hired a new delivery driver who was riding with our regular driver, Tony, for training. About 9 am that morning our new driver calls me in a panic and says that Tony passed out and hit his head on the ground. He told me that Tony was conscious now and could speak but looked really pale and disoriented. I asked him where he was and fortunately he was less than a mile from Mission Hospital, so I advised him to take Tony straight to the hospital.

I got to the Hospital within half an hour and checked in with the Emergency Room staff. They told me they that Tony was hooked up to an IV and several monitors but they hadn’t yet figured out what was wrong with him. As I made my way to his room I kept thinking, “Tony is only 26 and such a nice young man, quiet and unassuming, yet very honest and hardworking. I really hope there is nothing seriously wrong with him.” When I got to his room it was a rather surreal scene. Here is this really good and decent young man lying in a hospital bed, with tubes and wires coming out of one arm and his young girlfriend, actually his fiancée Karen, holding on tightly to the other one. It reminded me how short life can be and how precious it truly is.

 

Later on that day as I was driving back to my office I heard an interview on the radio. They were interviewing Irving Kahn, who is one of the top investment bankers on Wall Street, about his current work schedule, the state of the economy and his take on life. The interview was brief because Irving Kahn makes it a habit to be brief. In fact when they asked him what was the one thing he would change to improve the world he said, “People need to use fewer words, be concise and get to the point, because life is short and should not be wasted.” The interview with Irving Kahn was being conducted while he was at work, at the ripe old age of 106.

And that got me thinking….. Whether we are 26 or 106 life is precious and should never be taken for granted…..because if someone who is 106 years old thinks that “life is short” then it must really be short!

    Irving Kahn at 106…. Still working and still enjoying life!

 

 

 

Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.                                      ~ Grandma Moses       

To Provide and Protect

This past week I was lucky enough to be invited golfing with Rod Carew. Even though Rod is a legendary Hall of Fame Baseball Player, I found out that in reality he is just a “regular guy”. He lives near me so we have become golfing buddies and last week we talked about a lot of things, things like faith, family, baseball and golf. But the one thing that Rod said that really struck me was, “how much he loved his kids”. He has children of his own that he loves, but in that particular conversation he was referring to the children he spends time with when he does charity work. Since he lost his own daughter to cancer when she was 12, he has devoted himself to providing for and protecting as many cancer stricken children as possible. That’s why he lovingly calls them, “his kids”!

When I heard Rod talk about children it reminded me how important my own children are to me. I have four grown children that I love very much. In fact, my youngest daughter, Brooke, graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday and our whole family went up there to celebrate with her. Since this was a huge milestone in my daughter’s life, I felt like it was an important time for me to impart some words of wisdom. However, Brooke is already very intelligent, personable and resourceful, and she has heard lots of advice from me already. So I struggled to come up with the right words, words of advice for a beautiful young woman facing the harsh realities of a world in transition. We had already discussed so many important issues, faith, honesty, integrity, work ethic, the importance of helping others, etc., so what was left?

Then it came to me, we hadn’t discussed finding the right “man”. I have always felt that a father should set an example of what a real man is and therefore what a daughter should look for in a husband. But what is it that truly defines a real man? Well, here it is in a nutshell. Besides loving you for who you are, a real man is someone who is willing to provide and protect! Find a man who puts you first, isn’t afraid to work hard to provide for his family, and is willing to protect you at any cost, and you will have a man who is truly worthy of your love!

And that got me thinking….. Most young men become husbands first and then fathers later on. There is a certain poetic logic to that scenario because as husbands we learn to provide for and protect one other person. If a man learns that lesson well enough, then and only then will he be ready to provide for and protect many others, others he can call “his kids”!

 

The Graduate and her proud Mom!

Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is better.      ~Bob Talbert 

Sports Authority

Somewhere in the Bible it says that in order to get into heaven, we have to “be like little children”. I am not quite sure exactly what that means but I think it refers to “joyfulness”. Children are really good at being joyful. They’re not afraid to laugh and yell with joy when they are happy, especially when they’re playing games or sports with other children.

I never really got to play sports when I was growing up. My Dad was in the Marine Corps and we were always moving so it was tough to meet people and make friends. But I do vividly remember the one time when I got to play on a Little League Team. We were living in San Diego and it was only for a few months, but I absolutely loved it. Being on a team helped me to make new friends quickly and baseball was like a little piece of heaven. I loved the smell of the dew covered grass in the morning, the feel of the leather glove on my hand and the sound the ball made when you threw it hard and somebody caught it just right with a loud “pop”! It’s funny but I don’t remember whether or not we ever won a game. I just remember how fun it was to feel like I finally belonged to something, like I was part of a team, a team that had fun together!

When I grew up and had four children of my own, they each had their own “sport”. One loved baseball, one loved hockey, one loved soccer and one love to sing and act in local theater. I truly loved watching them play and I have to admit it, my face lit up with joy almost as much as theirs did, when I got to see them having so much fun.

Later on in life I realized how much I had missed by not playing sports. I guess I was so busy working and raising children that I felt like I never had time for fun. But then I got the chance to join the Halo Baseball Club, which is basically just like Little League, except for grown men. I was 48 by then, but swinging a bat, running the bases and sliding head first into home plate made me feel like a kid again. I am still playing baseball, still part of that team and still very much a “joyful kid”; at least I still am when I am out there on that wet green grass!

 

And that got me thinking….. For most of us, life is always going to be a busy parade of hard work and overwhelming responsibilities. But it can also be fun if we make time to have fun. Allow yourself some time to play, to have fun and to feel joyful. Who knows, you might even get drafted by a heavenly team!

That’s me in 1967…The skinny kid, far left, middle row

 

 

 

 

 

 

We didn’t lose the game, we just ran out of time!

             ~Vince Lombar