Favorite (Five Minute Friday)

Welcome to Five Minute Friday where I write on the wrong day of the week about the prompt provided by Kate - and then link with all the folks who wrote on time to share our thoughts. Five minutes, raw and unedited.

This week the word is FAVORITE. And while I will still pour my heart out for a few, I might not stop at 5 minutes this time. Because I want to tell you about my favorite baseball player.

Lots of my friends love baseball. Lots of people love baseball. Some have favorite players and some don't. And reasons people pick their favorite are as varied as the people who walk the face of the earth. Some like players who hit, or ones who throw untouchable fast balls. Some like players with personality, pizzazz, or ones who choose particular walk up music. There are folks who like players for their good looks or for where they played college ball, or just because they're on a particular team.

My favorite player is liked for a lot of reasons by many people. For me, it's his heart. Ian Desmond, shortstop for the Washington Nationals has the biggest heart of any baseball player I know. Last year Ian led a campaign to raise money for the Children's Tumor Foundation. (I wrote about that here. And in that post are links to all the back story of Ian's friendship with Ethan and how everything got started. Hop over and have a read).

It could have stopped there. The campaign raised over $30,000 and that is amazing. But Ian did it because he cares about the cause. Because Ethan is his friend, and like a little brother. I've become friends with Ethan and his family as well, and this whole year I've seen posts about the time Ian makes to check in and see how things are. To make sure Ethan has what he needs - to offer advice about girls, and to offer advice about friendships, and to offer wise counsel about where to study in Scripture.

And it could stop there. But it doesn't. Last week I organized an outing to a Nationals-Braves game in Atlanta. We did it through the Georgia chapter of the Children's Tumor Foundation. The Braves were gracious hosts and made sure we could get our seats in the shade, with wheelchair access if needed. We had a group of 17 people come to the game. A few of us flew down from DC. Some drove in from South Carolina and Alabama. And a few were Atlanta locals.

I reached out to Ian and let him know we were trying to get a group together. And Ian, with the Nationals, hosted us at batting practice before the game. Every single person in our group was able to get down on the field to watch BP. Ethan and his family joined us, too. 21 people in the BP crowd. But it doesn't even stop there.

Ian came out onto the field well before the Nationals were even due out to warm up. He came over to our group. He took photos with us, signed balls and programs, for way more people than he should have had to. But more than photos and signing, he took time with us. He stopped to visit with all the folks in our group. He engaged the kids and talked with them. Not cursory hellos, but thoughtful conversation. "What's happening. What's your name. (and then he used their names for the rest of the conversations). How are you. Do you have NF1 or NF2. Tell me your story.  Tell me about your family." And on and on.

Great to see this group from @ChildrensTumor, guests of Ian Desmond, rocking Curly W's here in Atlanta! #Nats #EndNF pic.twitter.com/vFNBNYmwlE

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 30, 2015

The time Ian devotes to people - to investing in them. To making them feel special and important and welcome. To understanding what they are facing and making them feel included. THIS is what I love about Ian and this is why he is my favorite baseball player. We are lucky to have a role model on this team who puts his faith and his heart into action, and who shares that willingly and openly with the community. Because of how Ian speaks of Ethan and his heart to EndNF with the guys on the team, others on the team, including Bryce Harper and Dan Uggla, came over to say hello and visit as well.

Thank you, Ian, for making our group feel loved. For using your name to give a voice to a cause that needs more spokespeople, and for sharing your heart to #EndNF in Washington. (and Atlanta). (and across the world).

On behalf of all the folks who came out to the game last week: from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.



a few pictures from the evening are below.