Baseball Family #6
Overcoming Errors

One thing you can always count on when it comes to families is that someone is going to mess up. In baseball they are called errors. Someone overthrows first or lets the ball roll right between their legs and some guy up in a room gives them an error. Then all of time records the fact that they made that error. That is the problem with errors. They never go away especially, when we are sort of prone to commit those errors.

To win in baseball you have to work to overcome the errors in a game. I had a coach who used to say “Don’t let one bad play lead to another.” When it comes to errors on a baseball field or in a family there are some things to always remember. If we were to keep these in mind then maybe that one error will not lead to three more. Here are some things to think about when it comes to errors.

Remember there will always be errors. You do not have to be around for very long before you realize that we all make mistakes no matter how hard we try not to. If you go back in history the first two brothers had a fight and one of them killed the other. We have had trouble getting along ever since there were two of us. So, if there are always errors then maybe we can take a breath and relax realizing that errors happen and the inning does not fall apart. Even though in the moment an error can appear to be huge, it is still just an error. Just one play is all it has been. We usually go crazy when someone makes an error. But we need to remember errors have been a part of life ever since humans have been around. No matter what happens there is a next inning so relax and take a breath.

Along with knowing there will always be errors, we need to learn a phrase that will change our perspective. Learn the phrase “Next Play.” When the apostle Paul described love he said that it keeps no record of wrongs. We need to let things go at times. There are big errors and yet then there are times when something happens but we have to not react as if the entire game is over and lost. Most of the time our kids will deal with their errors based on how we react to them. No matter what happens we need to remember that there is another play about to happen.
Our kids need to realize that are not a lot of things in life that cannot be overcome by simply playing the next play.

The other thing to remember that we can’t forget is a thing that we often forget in life. When you dwell on the error you only hurt yourself. The book of Job talks about this in chapter 18 verse 4: “You are only hurting yourself with your anger.” The funny thing about anger is simply that we only hurt ourselves when we hold on to the error. We need to let it go, if not we will end up making more errors and then drag out the bad play even further. If we hold to the error and anger from it then we make our lives worse. The strange thing is that until we forgive them we cannot move past the error. We can always see them through the error or we can offer them grace and forgive them. We can continue to hold a grudge and not get our heads back in the game.

But, what do we do when we are the error prone member of the team? I think we need to follow a new pattern to help our teammates out.
Admit the error and ask for forgiveness.
Figure out why you committed the error.
Make the corrections you need to make.
Quit making the same error.
Most of the times our teammates are just wanting to know that we understand we have messed up. People that are around us want us to admit our mistakes. Not for the reasons we may think. They want to move past them as much as we do. Everyone has seen the error; we might as well just admit it so we can move on to the next play. It really is necessary to say the words even if we do not want to hear them come out of our mouths.

Most of all in baseball and life we need to remember something. Grace is tough to give until we need to receive some ourselves. Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” We should forgive each other and look for any chance to help each other. When someone commits an error we need to be there to dust them off, help them get back up and get ready for what is next. That is truly what being a part of a team and a family. We all make errors, but yet we stay a part of the team. We don’t give up on each other no matter what happens. That is family.