The River Series 3/11: Denny/Dad⠀

It was baseball season again. For years I coached my oldest son in baseball and enjoyed watching him excel to be an MVP on every baseball diamond on which he walked. I assumed this particular baseball season was going to be different. No longer was I coaching my oldest son, a gifted athlete. Now I was coaching River. Could he even do it? Would other kids make fun of him? Will this be a discouragement for him, rather than a fun experience? But whatever hesitations I might have had quickly disappeared when River looked up at me from under his little ball cap and with a big smile said, "Let's play some baseball dad! I got this."
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To assume it was going to be a different baseball season than the past was correct. River didn't receive an MVP trophy, he was not voted on to the all-star team and was not the clean-up batter. But If you didn't know any better, you would have guessed he was the team captain. He was the first to congratulate, the first one to cheer, and the first one to encourage a teammate. His love for people would even spill over to the opposing team's dugout because River enjoyed walking over and sitting on their bench to say hi and give out hugs. If they kept stats on the most hugs and smiles given in a season, River would have batted a .1000.
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This experience made me realize that River excels in the greatest virtue of all: love. I can’t think of a better thing in life to win at.
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