Softball season is underway!! We're two weeks deep and we've already seen warm, cold, sun, rain, and wind, and sometimes in the same day. We know it's not unusual to see all four seasons in a Chicagoland spring day and still be able to come home to a flooded basement, but there is no easy way to prepare. While a lot of you were monitoring your sump pumps, here's a bit of what's been going on in softball...

First, I should start with some league details... There are 8 teams in the league, with a good mix of believers and non-believers. The schedule is built for teams to play one game each week, Tuesday and Thursday nights.

Opening Day, Tuesday, April 25th, was beautiful! The sun was shining, the fans were lively, and an all-around great day at the ball park! We had a fair amount of rain that Wednesday, but surprisingly, we were able to get in one of our two Thursday games. So, week 1, getting three out of four games in ain't bad. The next week though was a different story...

What happened next? Yes, you remember. It rained, for several days. How many inches? 7"? To say the least, our fields were pretty wet. It was so wet and soft that my shoes kept getting stuck in the mud! But, once again, we were still able to play one of our two Thursday games! Given the amount of rain, getting one out of four games in was great!

In efforts to protect against rain this season, my buddy donated two 100' x 100' tarps to cover the infields. I didn't know how to exactly manage and utilize these massive objects, but I found out that anything related to an object 100' x 100', is no one-man job. The story in our softball league, however, has not been about weather or tarps, but God's continued provision and faithfulness.

Coming out to lay tarps down until midnight on a Tuesday, is not ideal, but people joyfully came, and it was fun! Removing the watered down, dirty tarps in cold weather with soaking wet shoes is not appealing, but guys joyfully served and it was an experience to remember. Being faced with 1st time challenges, God even brought the "outside-of-the-box" thinker to help with efficiency and bring excitement to rolling up a tarp.

Even in the midst of the rain (pun intended), God's provision has clearly been evident in this season so far.

As of now, the fields are looking great to start Week 3! But, we know anything can happen... We trust Father God over Mother Nature.

Come on out to a game if you're able! You can find an updated schedule here: https://www.gracedupage.org/sports

And if you're lucky, you may find some very exciting, non-staged or pre-discussed game-time action like what you see in the photo below...

Jeff Goodman
Sports Ministry Coordinator