Last night, the Crawfordsville 9/10 All-Stars played a double header against a combined Ladoga/Walnut All Star team. It was supposed to be fun. Cameron played baseball for Walnut for a few years prior to coming to play in the Crawfordsville league so he knew several of the kids plus it was John and Jarett Downey's team so it was going to make for a fun rivalry.
We knew from watching the two teams play the night before that the kid pitching Ladoga could throw hard and fast (although my know it all son questioned his technique). What Cameron didn't know is how hard and fast until that ball hit him right in the neck!
That pitch came in and I wasn't sure where it hit. All I knew is that Cameron was on his back, on the ground...crying. I heard Brian ask him where it hit him and he said, "in the neck".
Well, eventually he got up and took his base but he was basically done for the night. He never really bounced back from it. It was sore and he was definitely shaken. He ran the bases fine and he played the field fine but the next time he had to face that pitcher...he couldn't do it. He backed out, backed away from every pitch. He was scared to death! My heart fell to my stomach.
So I thought, "okay, it may take awhile for him to face a pitch again." I just prayed, "God, help him to overcome this fear." I had to leave for a few minutes so I called my cousin Thoma and she talked to me while he was up. "He hit a double!" she said. Oh thank you God! And then I missed his first at bat for the second game...another double. Okay, so maybe it wasn't going to take as long as I thought.
But then, that pitcher came back in and it was like Cameron was looking at a monster. He couldn't do it. Brian said as soon as they put him back in he paced the dug out, shaking his head "no". And then he went back up to the plate and backed out. He was scared and he couldn't overcome his fear. So it wasn't necessarily that he was afraid of the ball. He was afraid of the ball being throw at him by that pitcher!
When all was said and done, Cam's team lost both games and he came off the field not wanting to play anymore.
That is a bummer!
Brian and I were talking about the whole incident last night. We were thankful for where the ball hit because a couple of inches one way or the other and it may have been much worse. This could have been a much different post.
So I asked, "what was the purpose of that?" because you know it came as no surprise to God. Everything happens for a reason so what was the reason for that?
I'm not God so I don't know but some things that came to my mind are:
Cam wants to immediately quit after something like that. I think we need to teach him to work through his fear and teach him the truth in Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. He can overcome this!
Is this all worth it? Is all this focus on sports too much?
Maybe I have been too prideful lately and needed knocked down a notch. Along the same lines, I have noticed Cameron "jawing" a lot lately. He seems to think a lot of himself. James 4:6 tells us that God opposes the proud but favors the humble. This definitely humbled me...and Cameron.
I don't know. I just know that I don't want him to quit. I never want to see him get hit like that again. I'm scared now every time he gets up so I can imagine he is quite scared but I love watching him play baseball.
Dear God, Please help us to learn what you want us to learn in this incident. Please help us to help Cameron overcome his fear. Shield him, protect him and let your truth fill his heart and mind so that he can move past this. In Jesus Name...Amen.
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