Character Trumped Baseball Trophies

Spring 2012

What a day for my son today! This evening, he was in a championship game for his Little League baseball team. He caught a great game, and although he went 0-for-3 at the plate, two of his outs were hard line drives that put fear into the hearts of the boys who caught them. Defensively, he threw out a runner trying to steal 3rd base, and made a number of plays that prevented the other team from scoring more runs than they did.

As cool as it was to watch my son collect his tournament trophy for second place, it was nothing compared to another award he won earlier today.

Jacob was awarded "Mariner Spirit Award of the Year" from his school. It's based on recommendations from the teachers who interact with his class. I found pride in listening to his teacher read the award citation as it described him as "loyal", "always looking out for the needs of his classmates", "positive attitude", "encouraging to others", and more. Liv and I already knew this about Jacob, but it was such a great feeling to hear other people say it about him. This is what people see in my son when I am not around to correct him! My boy is "loyal", he'll make a great husband and father someday! I'll admit it, I got teary-eyed in front of all the other parents. I ran over and hugged him.

Wins and losses are simply a part of life, but what will help him overcome those losses in life will be his character. In fact, his character will be what helps him develop strong and healthy relationships in the future, and see more and more wins as life goes on. I would definitely say that Character Awards trump baseball trophies any day.

What are your thoughts? What character traits (or vision) are you developing in your own children? Comment below.