White Baseball Pants

By Sarah McDonald

It is summertime, and in my house that is synonymous with playground baseball and softball. Three of my five children are currently playing (sometimes at the same time) at our neighborhood playground, and I love it.

What don’t I love about baseball and softball? White pants. Anyone who has ever tried to get a grass stain or better yet, wet red clay, out of a pair of white baseball or softball pants can tell you, it is not easy task. While some swear by the Oxyclean soaking method, we’re fans of the hydrogen peroxide and Dawn combo soak. Soak, scrub, soak, rinse is a multiple-night-a-week event for me.

So, what does this have to do with a Catholic parenting blog you might ask?

One night, I was at the kitchen sink scrubbing a particularly pesky clay stain caked into the knees of my 10-year-old’s white baseball pants. (He played catcher that night.) As I scrubbed, I saw the grime lifting out and the pants getting whiter and brighter.

I took such joy in this mundane task and got so excited. Then I started thinking deeply – this is what happens at 11 p.m. when you are scrubbing your third pair of white baseball or softball pants at your kitchen sink. If I could be so excited about cleaning and whitening a pair of baseball pants, how much more excited must God be when he gets to clean my soul after the sacrament of reconciliation?

After that unexpected moment of grace, I was really excited to go to confession. God is so good to me and provides in so many ways for my family and me, that I was truly excited to go accept his gift of mercy and forgiveness.

Now, I am just left to wonder how much my kiddos appreciate their white baseball and softball pants!