Strep Throat and Life

I have been a blogging delinquent and I am sorry.  Poor David has been fighting a nasty case of strep throat.  He was pretty pitiful over the weekend:(  Because of his kidney issue (he just has one that functions somewhere between 40-50%) anytime he gets sick we take note.  He made it through it okay, but just a little more spoiled from all the extra attention and loving. 

I have been knee-deep in writing a grant to Little League international to get money to upgrade our current fields and dugouts to make them handicapped accessible because (drum roll.....) we are offering Challenger Baseball in Marion this spring!!!  I am so over the moon excited about this I can hardly sleep. 

Challenger Baseball is Little League baseball for children ages 4-18 that have physical or intellectual disabilities.  Last year Mike came home one evening and told Kyle and Hope that it was Little League signup night and he was taking Kyle to signup for baseball and Hope Tball.  David literally sat at the front door and bawled because he wanted to play too.  Because of his kidney issue and slower reflexes, it is not safe for David to play with his peers.  He can; however, play modified baseball which is what Challenger is all about.

This past summer God worked it out beautifully that I literally ran into our District person for Little League when I was volunteering in the concession stand.  I started quizzing him about Challenger ball and where is the closest place for David to play ball.  No one basically in Southwest Virginia from Marion to Gate City in our area) offers Challenger so I am going for it with the support of our local little league board. 

It is awesome to think about the idea that all children will be able to truly play baseball, BUT the reality is that our dugouts are not handicapped accessible.  I have been writing a grant (which I love to do) to get some of the money for this process to begin.  So I have been writing, just a grant and not on the blog:) We are hoping to do some local fundraisers to raise the funds so that all can will truly be able to play ball! 

Yesterday at church our pastor preached on the scripture from Luke 12:48 from everyone who has been given much, much will be required.  I cannot talk Mike into the missionary field in Africa at this time at all, but I do love local missions like our food pantry at church and my new mission of every child being able to play baseball.  I love that scripture and it is our new family scripture on our board.