I didn't play little league baseball long enough to see curveballs. When I hung up my cleats from America's favorite pastime, we were still just happy to get orange slices and capri suns after the game. Nonetheless, I'm familiar with the difficulty of hitting a curveball.
And 2020 so far has been one big curveball. Or maybe a lot of curveballs one after the other, in different directions all the time. But even though I didn't stay in baseball long enough to see a curveball from the batter's box, I was there long enough to know the importance of swinging. I had coach after coach, my father included, tell me the statistical probability of hitting a pitch when you don't swing (tip: it's zero). If you want to hit the ball, you'll have to swing the bat.
The trouble with swinging, of course, is that you can miss. It's very likely, in fact, that you'll miss quite a bit. You may even miss a majority of the time. But still, swinging matters.
So here we find ourselves, in the summer of 2020 (which I can guarantee we'll talk about for many years to come), looking at a curveball. And we're swinging. I can see our staff, especially our amazing summer staff, swinging in the way they welcome groups to camp. Our kitchen staff are working with mixed up supply chains and infrequent food deliveries to manage meals. Our board and year round staff continue to take swings at navigating the changing world and how we can continue to stay in meaningful ministry while being good stewards of what we have. And we have swings you can take as well! See below to learn more about Stay and Plays, Fresh Air Days, or DIY NaCoMe options for you or your family.
We know we won't hit everything. But we won't hit anything if we don't swing. That's our mentality moving forward: we know the next few weeks and probably months won't be what we expected. But we'll do the best we can, and we'll take a swing (or a lot of swings). Hopefully, you'll join us in doing the same.
Here's to the next swing you take (and maybe some orange slices afterward),
- Ryan " Flash" Moore