Putting Heart into it

We are all uncomfortable in different situations in life. I was performing a wedding a couple of weeks ago and I am not a huge fan of being dressed up and in formal situations. (my vermont back woods roots coming out). For some reason I always thought I am the only one who feels uncomforable in these scenerios. Then as I watched the guests I arrive I realized that many of these people are uncomfortable and feel our of place. The aha moment was when this late teen early twenty something was wearing high heels and fell right on her face. I'm sure she was horrified and felt like the whole world was watching her.

We all have the situations that make us uncomfortable. I have seen it with taking people into jail/prison situations. There is a fear of the unknown, the different, the unknown possibilities. The fear of others from different races and economic status. There is also people with disabilities that make others uncomfortable.

We have seen it first hand, the looks and the avoiding looks. People with disabilities make many uncomfortable. As Jill will say "you can't catch it" meaning you can't catch muscular dystrophy.

It is freeing when we can overcome these uncomfortable feelings. When we begin to interact and realize that all of us in life are in the same boat.

Last night Kyle played in his first baseball game. He actually hit the ball twice. He was ecstatic. Everyone who played had special needs. There was one other boy in a wheelchair. There was a wide range of ages and disabilities. These kids have a helper who helps them hit and field. Whenever someone hits a ball there are multiple balls thrown onto the field and every fielder gets a chance to make the play. (It is somewhat controled chaos.)

Kyle was a little apprehensive about going. But immediately he had a helper who talked to him and helped him through each play. I didn't even catch his name but he seemed to enjoy the night as much as Kyle did.

This baseball game is done every Sunday night in June and a church hosts/sponsors it.

My expectations of most things in life (especially new things) are very low. So I was just hoping Kyle had a good time. I was pretty suprised to see close to 100 people there cheering and encouraging the kids and their families. These were people from the church. They weren't part of the game, they didn't have a specific job to do other than just be an encouragement, and they were.

There was a speaker system and each of the kids had their names announced. It was very special for each of the families.

It is easy to do something with our hands or our money for someone else, it is a whole new level when our hearts are put into it. This is what we saw and experienced, is a church that got behind a cause and put their hearts into it. I am sure there were many that have felt uncomfortable with special needs people but they overcame that and put their hearts into it.

Kyle won't be able to play next week due to going to camp by himself for the first time. But he will playing the final three Sundays in June. He enjoyed the game but I think he may have liked going to the concession stand even more afterwards like a typical little leaguer.