Father-Son moment like no other…

Last night I had the chance of a lifetime – twice. For starters, I’m 28, and I spent the evening with my father at our first father/son only Cardinals game – why it took so many years, I have no clue… but it did – and it was worth it. We made the 2.5 hour trek up to St. Louis mid-afternoon, chatting the whole way about church, the ministry, family, and just life in general. I could’ve turned around at STL and been fine with not even going to the game, as the time I spent with my dad was both quality and quantity time – a true blessing. But, the chance of a lifetime was sitting in section 158, our usual, just the two of us, enjoying a cool evening at the ballpark and a great first inning.

Albert Pujols’ belted a HR, seconds after I “called the shot” towards dad – and the crowd erupted. It just so happened that I had my camera with me, snapped the swing, snapped the follow-thru, then snapped possibly the best picture I’ve ever captured – THIS ONE.

I have to admit – in that moment, I was so caught up in this guy’s sheer excitement and exuberant joy, that I failed to notice much of anything else around me – other than my father. I dwelled in this moment for what seemed like an hour – instantly showing my own dad the picture on my camera. His first words were my first thoughts – “You ought to show them, and email it to them. They’d probably like that.”

So, after the last out of the inning, I scaled a few rows of seating, and prompted the fellas to take a look at the shot I took – only to hear this: “Oh wow.” A father, caught up in the moment that he just shared with his son – just as I had done. A half-inning later, I had the gentleman’s email address, in which he penned on the back of the card, “Ron & my son Shawn.”

It makes me stop to think of those God moments – those “oh wow” moments that we share with those around us. I have to admit, that one moment at the ballpark stood right up at the top with just BEING there with my dad – and he agreed – the whole trip was worth it, just to see Shawn in his ultimate happiness. The best part about this moment: that it was spent with his dad, Ron.

Another great moment that happened shortly after, was the family sitting in front of us, three boys and their mom. The youngest, seated to our left was overheard saying, “Mom, you REALLY called Pujols to ask him if he hit that for me???” She just chuckled at his question, and innings later they were back in their seats with loads of souvenirs from what their mom said was “their first game ever.” A moment – spent with their mother…

Which brings me back to mine. I took time out, spent it with dad, and he did the same. I’ve learned a lot from my dad in my 28 years of life – but I have to say, that Sunday night at Busch Stadium taught me a lot more than most of the other lessons I’ve learned. My dad taught me to see true happiness, to see tiny moments in life that are put on display by God, and he taught me how important family is… which God just happily revealed at the ballpark, through one of His own children, Mr. Pujols. I gripped my dad’s shoulder as we took photos together in front of the field, fighting back tears, because of what he means to me, and because of what I’ve attempted to become, thanks in part to him – and some wonderful tag-team effort from mom. He just lucked out to have his father-son outing that night, and we dwelled in the moment for the 2.5 hour drive home.

Don’t miss out on the God moments… don’t miss out on the “oh wow” occasions… don’t blink, or you’ll miss God doing something amazing right in front of your very eyes. You never know when He’s doing some of His best work – even if it’s in a stadium with thousands of fans. And last, but most definitely not least, don’t ever fail to recognize how important family is, and what you’ll learn from them. That Pujols’ blast was great, grand, incredible, (insert adjective here) – but it didn’t compare to looking at others’ happiness and recognizing those around me, and the lesson I learned from good ol’ dad.