When I was in grade six I loved baseball for one year of my life! The reason I did was because of a boy who lived next door to me who saved my life on the baseball field whenever we played. You see, Kim knew that I could really hit the ball far but could not run for my life, so he would let me bat and then he’d always run the bases for me. (It may have had something to do with the fact that I was only allowed to wear dresses and he felt sorry for me or feared I might trip over my skirt!! )

It was a perfect scenario….but they only allowed that in grade six, so that ended my interest or delight in playing baseball. After that year, whenever I heard the words “Batter Up” my stomach would get a knot in it just fearing the need to do the running myself!

There will be times in your kids’ lives when you will have to take the bat for them! I had to do that several times for our children and I have no regrets doing so.

I am not talking about bailing our kids out when they have made wrong choices or are in a bad situation as a result of their own actions. I am referring to the times when the child needs us to have their back and be the mediator on their behalf.

I had a situation with our youngest son when he was young. Of our three kids, he was the one who struggled the most with separation anxiety. On that particular day I had just found out that our friends’ son had taken his life and I was dropping Ben off at school as I was heading up North to the funeral and would be away for a few days.

As I drove away I looked in the rearview mirror to see a teacher in Ben’s face scolding him sternly and making him sob. I quickly turned the car around and went to Ben and asked him what had happened. Apparently, he had failed to greet her first, so she was angry about this. I took a moment to ask God to calm me down then I went directly to the teacher and ‘gave her a piece of my mind that I could not afford to lose’!!!…in the most Christian way possible! She was very apologetic and asked Ben to forgive her as well.

Our kids need to know that we have their backs and are willing to go to bat for them whenever needed…prayerfully, calmly and with a firm resolve to make the wrong right on their behalf! Look for those opportunities, as parents, to be watching for those occasions when you need to be the one up at bat for your precious kids!

Love,

Karen