The Pattern is Full

Today our 'pattern is full.'

My father is a private pilot. When the "pattern is full" it means that there is a line of airplanes ahead of you to use the runway to land. Sometimes a concern, you hope to have enough fuel to finally get down to the ground safely...

Our pattern is full. It means that both of our son's baseball teams are now "in season." Tonight the oldest played, tomorrow the youngest plays, Saturday they both play - two games each and Sunday the youngest is probably playing (tournament time). With American Legion ball for both of them this summer, minus playoff games at the end of season and in tournaments, my wife and I will be chasing 111 scheduled games. Our 'worst' year ever was 126 games a couple years ago.

So now, once again we find out lives running at full tilt. We will be tired, cranky and get flat-out "run all over kingdom come." We will be exhausted from packing chairs, umbrellas, sleeping bags, portable shade, Thermoses, coolers, holing up in mid-grade hotels with postage stamp swimming pools, and hanging out with some of the nicest people you'll ever meet - Mountain View High School baseball parents. Oh yes, the boys - almost forgot the boys. Five years from now when this part of our lives where "the pattern is full" is over, we will dearly miss it. By that time both of our sons and our daughter will likely be in college. About the time three college school bills hit we'll regret ever thinking we were tired of going to baseball games.

You only get one shot at raising your kids...

In the future we'll not only follow our kids and track their careers, but also the boys our sons called "teammates." We'll look back at photo albums and video and reminisce, remembering how great these times were and how blessed we were to having experienced...all of it!

Yes, our pattern is full, but I don't know if I want to land right away. I just pray for enough fuel for this part of the journey...