Smacked In The Face With A Ball

A few months ago, my son Gabriel and I were at a Young Life event in Auburn. Gabe was there with me that night, and the kids were playing kickball, and he wanted to play.

It didn't start out well. We were in the outfield and this big 8th grader came up to the plate. Gabe was in the infield, and somehow that kid kicked the ball square in his face. Hard. It was loud, and there was like 50+ kids out there that were all watching my 9 year old son catch one square in the kisser.

When it happened, I was immediately concerned, not that he was hurt, but how would he react to this in front of all these kids? I wasn't standing right next to him, but I could tell it hurt. Man, everyone knew it hurt. you could hear that it hurt. But do you know what happened? Gabe kept his composure. It was easy to see that it was hard for him, but he did it. He didn't cry. He took the pain. It built some character in him that day.

I don't know why pain builds character, but it sure does. How you react when you are in pain can really let people know what kind of person that you are. Now, I'm not saying that we should put our kids through pain to teach them, as much as I am saying its a natural byproduct of painful situations.

I guess that's why it annoyed me when I found out that at Field Day yesterday they were playing Dodge Ball with Nerf balls, and they were, get this, rolling the balls on the ground at each other to try and hit the other person. I wonder what "Self-Esteem" guru at the elementary school decided that they would play the game in such a way to ensure that no one got hurt, no one got upset, and no one felt left out. Wow.

Seriously? Is that what we've become? A society that shields our kids from every bit of pain and discomfort? I can almost guarantee that 90% of the people reading this played dodge ball the same way I did, with a big red rubber ball, no restraint, and got hit in the face. Isn't it amazing that we all lived?

Again, I'm not advocating that we hurt people, or allow someone to hurt another person, but allow ourselves to experience some pain once in a while. This world is not perfect, and neither are the people in it. If we raise our kids shielding them from every painful experience, we will find that they are unable to withstand the rigors of everyday life that this world dishes out.

Next time you're in pain, thank God for it. Thank him for making you a stronger person. Thank him that you can withstand a little bit of discomfort. It makes you stronger.

Blessings
matt