Kickball Mishap Leads to Quitting or Continuing?

He was opening his arms really wide to receive the round object quickly descending from the sky and, as a proud father, I looked on as my son’s little eight-year-old arms were stretched to the sky awaiting the kickball just drilled by one of our church’s high school students. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as I was praying that he would remember what we had just been practicing over the weekend. “Don’t try to catch the ball with your hands only, but also use your chest to embrace the ball”, I said to him as we practiced in the backyard. He had gotten the hang of it while practicing, but this was real life and I wondered if he would catch the ball. Ty had done everything right, but the ball was kicked so high and was moving so fast that it bounced off his little chest and arms right into his face and then onto the ground.No, Ty didn’t get the out, but he had done everything I taught him to do. As I arrived onto the field where he was crying a little from a cut lip and maybe a little embarrassment, I was proud of him. I put my arm around him and said, “That was awesome! You almost had it!” He probably thought I was a little weird because, after all, he hadn’t caught the ball. For me, it wasn’t about catching the ball, but about getting on the field and taking a risk. I asked him if he wanted to sit out or keep playing. He said, “I’ll keep playing.”Sometimes even when we do everything right, the ball has a tendency to take a bad bounce now and then. Instead of taking yourself out of the game, wipe away the tears and get back in the game.