Success
// June 23rd, 2010 // Uncategorized
Success can be a difficult thing to define. If none of our players ever sign a pro contract, does that mean we weren’t successful? I don’t think so. There are way more important things we are trying to teach our kids than just how to play baseball, but if our kids don’t change? What if their lives continue on the same trajectory they were on before they came to I Love Baseball and end up in the same positions we worked to keep them out of? What if they never know God? Did we fail? Unsuccessful outcomes are hard to accept. But do we define success as the world does, based on results? Or do we serve God faithfully and acknowledge that only he can control the results of our ministry?
Watching certain kids behavior get worse instead of better is heartbreaking. But we don’t do what we do to receive the gratitude, love and respect of our kids. We love them because of the love of Christ that we have already received not earthly Affirmation. It is just a tough pill to swallow when kids you have invested so much in don’t get it, when they don’t return the same love and respect they are receiving. It is frustrating. It hurts. But we keep serving and focus on the process and loving well, knowing that the results are not in our hands but God’s. So what is success? For me, it is serving faithfully. What is success for you?
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As Abraham did, a parent must be willing to give their children back to God…. Only He can call and convict them to follow Him. You can only corral them in the right way.
Hard to accept but true
Great attitude and great post, Chris
Thanks Peter
Hold on…
It's not MY kid that's acting up, is it? Better not be! I know this sounds incredibly cliche', but I'll say it anyway. You may never know how much the time and love you're investing in these kids will change their lives, but I believe you are making a difference just by being faithful. Praying for you, Chris.
No, he was behaving himself today although he has still been a little surly of late. Today may have been a big turning point for the better and it was really cool to see how God used someone who was visiting on a short term team to bridge some gaps. Really good day.
I have a hard time with this and our IMT kids too…mostly knowing when/if we should close their files. I just look at it as we are planting something in them that may bloom now or it may bloom later. All we can do it try and pray. Teenagers are always challenging, they're so fickle and their attitudes are always changing too! I'm very proud of you.
Chris, I am sorry you are frustrated yet glad to see you relying on God. I'd like to share a passage from my prayer readings with you:
When Hercules wrestled with Antaeus he found that every time he threw him down upon the ground the enemy arose stronger than before. But when he discovered that Gaea–the Earth–was the mother of the giant, and that every time her son fell back upon her bosom he rose with renewed strength, then Hercules changed his tactics. Lifting Antaeus high in the air, away from the source of strength, he held him there till he brought him into subjection.
We, who are not children of Earth but children of God, could learn much from the lesson of Antaeus. We too, whenever troubles cast us back upon the bosom of our Father, rise with renewed strength. But just as Antaeus let Hercules, who was smaller in stature than he, lift him away from the source of his power, so circumstances, infinitely small and trivial, may drag us away from God. Troubles, misfortunes, disappointments, and handicaps, if they but throw us back upon God, if they merely give us opportunity of bringing into play our God-directed imagination and our heaven-blessed sense of humor, may become converted into marvelous good fortune. For trouble, if it merely turns us to God and hence renews our strength, ceases to be evil, and becomes good; it becomes the best thing that could possibly come to us, next to God himself. For our growth in power and happiness depends upon the number of seconds out of each twenty-four hours that we are resting in God.
-From The Soul's Sincere Desire by Glenn Clark
Know that we keep you in our prayers up here! We trust God to take care of you.
Elle
Even under the best of circumstances, kids may not show their respect and appreciation. I think that’s something I as a parent sorely neglected to teach, or at least, it often didn’t stick. When they’re older, they will have flashes of mentoring moments you shared with them and it will be an “aHa” moment for them.
Never underestimate your investment in these kids. It comes to fruition in God’s time. We are innately impatient to see the fruits of our labors. I will continue to pray for you and your passion for these kids.