It was baseball season in a small Pennsylvania town. If you know anything about Little League baseball, you know it is also a time when little boys’ hearts and egos are on the line. A certain ten-year-old had ridden the bench most of the season. But in the championship game, his coach finally called him up to bat.

The little boy’s whole extended family had turned out for this very special game. His parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, second cousins--they were all there, cheering and clapping and shouting words of encouragement.

The little boy swallowed his anxiety and stepped up to the plate. He gripped the bat and stared hard at the pitcher.

Whoosh! The pitch flew by him. Strike one!

From the stands, his family cheered him on.

“You can do it! You can do it!”

So …