A God Wink for the Aledo Ladycats

Last night, the Aledo Ladycats softball team, sealed their place in Friday’s State Playoff Final in Austin, by beating the Joshua Owls 1-0. Sporting pink armbands for Jessie, and playing with hearts of gold, these girls earned their place in the #1 spot in the nation, according to the USA Today / National Coaches Association Poll (http://www.nfca.org/top25/index.php?cat_id=9 )

Jessie was invited up to the field house before the game, and these nice, young ladies presented Jessie with a framed picture of the team. It was the same picture that Brad and Jada Morrow ( http://www.bearcatimages.com/ ) had given Jessie last week showing the Ladycats with their pink “Jessie” armbands. Last Tuesday, I had taken this picture to “Frame and Fortune” in Aledo to have it framed. Well, sneaky Jennie Suchocki (the owner of Frame and Fortune) framed it, then had all the girls sign it and they presented it to Jessie before the game. Haylee Bell also works at Frame and Fortune.
It was nice to meet Lyndi, and Whitney, Kay Kay, Halyee, and the rest of the girls. They seemed so relaxed before the game, and took Jessie into the locker room and showed her around and had another picture taken with her. These girls are a really neat, fun-loving group. Brad is going to print up these newest shots, and sell them with proceeds going to the Jessie Hall Hemispherectomy Scholarship Fund to benefit other kids like Jessie. ( http://www.hallzoo.com/JHHS.htm )

I was amazed at the maturity of these young ladies. Here they are, getting ready to play the biggest game of their lives, and they were not at all self-absorbed, self-seeking, or egotistical. Instead, they selflessly took a sick little girl and made her part of their “team” for a few minutes. These are the qualities that, I believe, God winks at.

While we were talking to the girls, I excitedly ask if they were going to “Kick some butt” tonight, and they, of course shouted enthusiastically “yes” in response. Well, I learned a powerful lesson about what NOT to say in front of a 6-year old, which would come back to haunt me later that night. So, fast forward to right before the first inning; Jessie is on my shoulders, and we are watching from the first base side (there was standing room only). The girls are all facing us and Jessie yells quite loudly “Ladycats! Kick those owl butts!!!”. Everyone within earshot, turned around to see this smiling little girl who thought that she had said something perfectly acceptable, honoring the Ladycats. She was not embarrassed what-so-ever, Dad and Mom, on the other hand tried to make ourselves real small.

Anyway, we enjoyed the game immensely, but unfortunately, had to leave in the 5th inning. We were over in the bullpen, and Jessie had a mild complex partial seizure. She was fine a few minutes later, and fell asleep. We listened to the rest of the game on the radio, and were so excited that the Ladycats won.

The Ladycats are a great group of girls. Last night, they were facing the most important game in their lives, and they took time for a sick little girl. That is character!!

This morning, Jessie woke up, and the first thing that she asked was, “Did the Ladycats win?” She didn’t remember a thing about her seizure or how she got home.