I wore a fleece to the ballpark tonight. 64 degrees at gametime…remember a few weeks ago when it was 94? I grabbed a cup of coffee late in the game to warm my hands. The Spikes and Scrappers were locked in a 1-1 tie until Steve Ramos singled, stole second, advanced to third on a Cesar Valera single ot left, and scored on Brett Wiley’s single to center. That makes 5 walk-off wins for the Spikes at home this year.
That was good, but not what I had in mind when I wrote the title.
What felt good was walking around the park, seeing some young men who’ve been coming to our youth group this summer, and passing some time chatting with them.
As they left me I made my way to the bullpen. I like to hang out there, give my chapel guys the official head nod (I’m the Spikes chaplain via Baseball Chapel). While out above the pen I noticed a group of about 20 teenagers, being herded by 6 adults. Youth Group. It was only a matter of time before the boys in the group were hanging over the rail asking the relief pitchers for baseballs. My kids do it every game. I asked one of the adults if the kids were part of a group, and she told me with a smile that they were a youth group from a church in Lewistown. She and her husband had just started working with the youth group, and the church had recently (January) hired a youth pastor. A few minutes later she introduced me to Ben, and we chatted for a few minutes. His eyes bugged out a little when I told him that I’d been a youth pastor since 1990, and I had just moved back into that role at Calvary.
I don’t know if that random encounter will lead to anything, but I know that one of the things that bring me joy and gives me the feeling of contributing to the body of Christ is when I get the chance to encourage other youth pastors, especially those who are just starting out.
That felt good…
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