Do You Love the Game More? (Bot9 #290)
If L-O-V-E equals T-I-M-E, do you spend the same amount of time wondering about your wife and family as you do the game of baseball? If Baseball Twitter is any indication, there are a lot of us who spend a lot more time thinking, debating, and working on the game than we do that significant, most important other in our life.
After years of what I’d call “deficit spending” on the nonexistent equity in my love bank account with my wife, I tried something new this weekend. Let me outline a scenario that will be all-too-familiar to other baseball guys out there.
A couple of weeks ago, I found my wife on the couch poking around on her computer late one night. I sat next to her interested in what she was doing. “I’ve got a wild hair,” she said, “I want to take the kids to Disney World for the weekend.” Prices certainly weren’t an obstacle and, after months of being inside, I wasn’t going to get in the way of a post/mid-pandemic opportunity to restore a little mental health through a break. I immediately noticed that she had three tickets up for her reservation. I said, “I don’t think I can go.” She said, “You can never go.”
(Insert a video in my head of being in a dugout whipping a clipboard against a brick wall, maybe whispering a four-letter expletive under my breath…maybe.)
The next morning I looked at my calendar and tried to figure out a way to be down there with my family in the middle of the baseball preseason. I could leave on Saturday afternoon and get back before hitting on Monday. I texted her to see if she’d like it if I came down on Saturday night and spent Sunday with them. She responded immediately with “I would LOVE that,” and the rest was history. Am I tired after flying back and forth across the country twice in the matter of 48 hours? Duh. But are there full banks with my family because of those efforts? Absolutely yes.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.” Let’s change the words real quick (forgive me, Jesus, but I think it’s the same idea). You cannot serve your family and be enslaved to baseball. Now, no one is asking you to quit coaching or playing baseball. No one is asking you to stop pursuing greatness in the game. What God is asking you to do is to be as curious about your spouse and your family as you are the game. Do you know your wife’s love language? Same question for your kids? For me, I know my wife’s love language is quality time. I know that time is an area I have to give particular attention. Here’s what I’ve learned to be true - like love, curiosity is an unending well. When you turn that curiosity toward your wife and kids, the bucket is never empty. It’s a beautiful mystery and I’d challenge you to go to that well to find out for yourself.
And, as if it needed to be said, God is the same way. We cannot serve God and be enslaved to baseball. His love, His mercy, and who He is deserves the same curiosity as your spouse, your kids, and, yes, Baseball Twitter. Talk to other coaches about His enduring questions and mysteries. Talk to players about what they’re learning about God. We can recapture so much of our life by seeking to understand His many mysteries as well. His is an eternal mystery that will draw you into deeper relationships with Jesus, your family…and maybe even people on Baseball Twitter.