When my oldest son, Holt Rowland, decided that he wanted to play baseball, my husband made sure that he would have every opportunity to learn about the sport. We bought Holt a glove and ball, a bat, a batting helmet, cleats for his feet, and of course, those cool, high baseball socks. As Holt got older and baseball got more serious, our equipment increased too. When Holt moved from T-ball to pitching machine, we bought a used batting cage and pitching machine and added that to our backyard. For many years my backyard was filled with an enormous batting cage. My neighbors would tease me about it, and I did my own grumbling about it as well, but that cage wound up being a place of precious memories for our family.
Not only did my own two kids use the cage, but season after season, team after team, boy after boy came over to our house to hit in our cage. Even kids that did not play on Holt and Hunter’s teams came to practice their hitting. Our used pitching machine continued to throw pitch after pitch, year after year. Then, one day, Holt outgrew the machine and moved to live pitch baseball! What an exciting, yet terrifying, transition.
I have written about it before, but live pitch required a lot of extra practice. Holt’s dad became the “pitching machine” with his live arm throwing pitch after pitch for practice. With Holt’s grandpa, Bubba, sitting right outside the cage, watching every swing, Dave would throw and Bubba would guide until Holt Rowland learned how to swing through the baseball coming from a “real” live pitcher. Hour after hour, day after day, Spring, Summer, and Fall, Holt played baseball. Together, our family practiced, played, and cheered from the time Holt was five years old until he was sixteen. My husband, along with several other daddies in our community, made a team of young boys Holt’s age into some very good baseball players. While players were made so were the memories of time spent together playing, laughing, and growing.
The Holt Rowland Foundation believes that sports are important, and we want sports to be part of our purpose. We are especially fond of baseball because that was Holt’s favorite sport. His body, being tall and wide, was the perfect build for a first baseman. Not only that, he loved to talk, and since players have to head to first base before they go any further, he had the perfect position to make conversation with everybody! Sports gave Holt the opportunity to affect other people’s lives in a positive way; he was a leader and a good influence.
What our foundation also believes is that, while sports are important, they are not most important. While Dave and I, as parents, provided Holt with every opportunity to get better in baseball, we also made sure that he was raised knowing that God is more important than anything else. Jesus Christ is the most important thing. Our hope in life is not in our own abilities and talents, our beauty or bank account, our friends or our family, but it is in the One who is much greater than anything in this world. Our hope is in Jesus and our life through him. He is our only real hope.
Holt went to the Dominican Republic on an FCA mission trip. As I have explained before, many boys who live there believe baseball is their only hope for a better future. Baseball is their ticket to money and freedom from the poverty of the island. There are many professional baseball players who come from the Dominican, so you can understand why they place so much hope and put forth so much effort in making it to the big league. The purpose of the FCA trip was to use baseball as a platform to share “real hope” in Jesus Christ with them. Maybe you’re thinking, “Can’t a person love Jesus and still want to be good in sports?” Yes, they can. But the difference is knowing that playing sports is only a blessing that God gives us. The health to be able to physically run and play. The opportunity to learn good sportsmanship and being part of a team. Sports benefit us through relationships and teach us life lessons about working together to achieve a common goal.
Sports can be good, but just like anything else, when it gets out of balance, sports can become too much of a good thing. When we place more hope in our stats rather than our faith, it’s not a good thing. When we brag about our own abilities more than we thank God for them, it’s not a good thing. When we care more about winning games than glorifying God, it’s not a good thing. When we care more about teaching our kids about a sport rather than about the Savior, it’s not a good thing.
If Holt Rowland had only focused on sports and never took the time to trust in Jesus and his love, he would not be in heaven right now. Being a good first baseman didn’t get him there. Having a batting cage in his backyard and becoming a good hitter didn’t give him the inside track. Playing on a championship team and winning lots of trophies over the years had nothing to do with it. Only his personal relationship with Jesus Christ got him there. As special as Holt is to us, his personality and smile didn’t earn him anything. Holt Rowland is in heaven because he loved Jesus and put his trust in only Him.
We can give our kids so many things because we love them. We can make sure that they have every opportunity to be the “best” they can be in whatever they choose to pursue. We stop at nothing to make their way easier and better than our own, but do your kid a favor, make sure that they know in whom to place their “real” hope. Dreaming about your kids future is wonderful , but knowing for sure where you and they will spend eternity is the most peaceful feeling you can imagine. Take it from a mom who knows.
