Sometimes it can be overwhelming to watch the news and hear one bad story after another of people killing, raping and stealing. It can almost make you think there is nothing good happening anywhere. It is the stories that seldom make the news that give us hope and inspire us. I witnessed one such story over the weekend. I believe this story will make your heart smile.

We have friends that have a sports organization for girls called Blue Blaze. They have both fast pitch softball and basketball teams for young girls. My family began following both because of our friendship with the ones who started the organization and who coach the 10 and under softball team. They have two daughters that participate. Earlier this season we rejoiced with their oldest daughter Brianna as she pitched her first perfect game.

Lauren is their youngest daughter and she is the batgirl for the team. Lauren is about two years younger than most of the girls on the team. The players embraced her from the beginning, making her feel like just as much a part of the team as if she were playing on the field. Lauren is a kid who loves life to the fullest and loves people. She takes her batgirl job as serious as the players take playing. During a game, you will hear players, coaches, parents and fans cheering for her as she runs out to pick up the bats.

Laurens dad Travis, the head coach, had been putting her on the roster of players, for the possibility of putting her in a game one day. With Lauren being two years younger than most, and the fierce competition in their league, it seemed unlikely she would get to play. It was the unlikely that created an opportunity that would leave everyone in tears.

The Blue Blaze 10U girls had played hard all day and were on their third game of the tournament. In this particular game, they had broken out into a considerable lead against their opponent. Suddenly, from nowhere, you could hear a chant from the crowd: “Put Lauren in coach.” If Lauren were to go in, someone would have to sit out. Laurens sister Brianna said she would sit out so Lauren could go in. That was moving in itself.

It was time for the Blue Blaze to take the field as they had done all day, but something was different this time. The batgirl was going into the game. Lauren ran onto the field, as a player for her first time with the Blue Blaze. As she ran toward her position in right field, she had a smile that would light up a dark room. She threw up a little wave to all her fans as she ran out. The cheers for her from the players, coaches, parents and fans went up in a roar. Everyone watched with tear-filled eyes. Lauren cheered for her team as she had always done except this time it was from the field as a player. She did great!

The inning ended and it was time for the Blue Blaze to bat. Lauren was sixth in line to bat, which meant some of the other players would have to get on for her to come to the plate and they did. Lauren was not running out to home plate to pick up the bat as the batgirl this time. She was running out to the plate as a batter. Everyone cheered for her as she took her batting stance at the plate and still smiling from ear to ear. The pitch came in and Lauren swung. It was a hit. She ran with all that was in her to first base, safe. Lauren had just hit her first ball, reached first base and had gotten her first RBI with the Blue Blaze. She stole second base and upon arriving at second, realized, the game was over. She had hit in the game-ending run.

The cheers went up with a roar, chanting her name repeatedly and the tears were flowing. I looked out to the field and the team had put Lauren on their shoulders, walking her around and chanting her name. That little girl was beaming. All of her hard work as the Blue Blaze batgirl had brought her to one of the happiest moments of her life, as well as for the team, coaches, parents and fans. It was a “Rudy” moment.

You didn’t see that on the local news but it was no less inspiring. The whole thing made me feel good about people. We could learn a life lesson from a team that embraced the batgirl and cheered her on rather than becoming jealous. We could learn a life lesson from Brianna who gave up her place on the field for her sister to have a special moment. And we could even learn a life lesson from coaches, parents and fans that were mindful enough of the batgirl to help create an unforgettable moment for her.

Of course, there is another life lesson in this story. It is the lesson from the batgirl. Lauren was faithful to her place as batgirl. Just as faithful as if she were playing a position on the field. She was a constant encourager for the players. She did what she did with enthusiasm, passion and always a positive attitude. It was because of the kind of person she is that created such a special moment for everyone involved.

Whatever you are doing in life, be faithful. Do it with passion and enthusiasm. Maintain a good attitude and be an encourager to those around you. If you do, your moment will come and when it does, others will cheer for you.

Have you ever had a sleep test done? I am finding that a lot of you have. If you snore a lot, you probably have Sleep Apnea to some extent. I am a professional snorer. That just means that when I sleep, no one else does. It is bad, or so I have been told. I remember several years ago when our friends little girl, Lauren, spent the night with us. She wanted to sleep with Carla so I let them have the bed and I slept in the living room. She woke up in the middle of the night frightened so she woke Carla up. She told Carla that she was afraid. Carla asked her why she was afraid. Lauren said, “I hear chains rattling in there.” You got it, the chains she heard rattling was actually me snoring.

Snoring is not the only problem. By noon every day, I feel wiped out. My energy level drops tremendously, making it hard to concentrate and focus as well as remember things. My doctor decided to send me to get a sleep test done to see if that might be the problem. The test reveals the number of times you stop breathing during a nights sleep due to the soft tissues in the back of your throat blocking the airways. If it happens a lot, your body is, deprived of the oxygen needed to function properly and the sleep test is the way to find out.

I arrived for my appointment thinking that it could not be that bad. It was worse than I thought. My nice Sleep Tech, Sandy, hooked up what felt like a thousand wires to my head, chest and legs. I felt like a robot except my wires were on the outside. After Sandy had me wired up, she asked me if I needed to go to the bathroom before I went to bed. I told her that I was good for the night. She helped me into the bed where I was supposed to sleep, and then she turned the light off and left the room.

There is something a little unsettling about knowing a camera is taping you and someone is watching your every move while you are sleeping. Since I have never observed myself sleeping because I am usually asleep while I’m sleeping,  I don’t know what I do in my sleep. Whatever it is that I do, they would soon know.

I tried my best to go to sleep but for the first time that day, I was wide, awake. Wouldn’t you know it? Rather than getting sleepy, I was getting anxious. I started thinking about all the money I was paying for them to observe me sleeping and I could not get to sleep. The anxiety increased my heart rate, which made it even harder to fall asleep.

I decided to lay there and talk to Jesus until the sleep came. It finally did until 3:30 when for the first time in my life, I needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. My previous deal with my bladder was that if it would give me until six in the morning, I would not make it hold any longer. We had done well with that deal until that night. It could not have picked a worse night to break the deal.

Wired up with a thousand wires (exaggerated somewhat) I could not get out of bed without assistance. Sandy had told me that if I needed to go during the night to let her know. I had assured her that I would not need to. That was before I knew my bladder would have some fun with my already miserable night. I guess this was payback from sometime in the past when I made it hold longer than it wanted to.

“Sandy” I called out but there was no response. “Sandy” I called out again but still no response. I felt silly calling into the dark for someone that was not responding but I was approaching emergency status here. It was almost panic time. You may be thinking, “Why panic, Bud?” Let me explain. I did not want to experience the shock of having water and all those wires meet one another. Finally, I said, “Is ANYONE there?” I did not care if it was Sandy or the building custodian; I needed someone in a hurry. A voice answered and said, “I will be right there.” It was another Sleep Tech. She came in, unhooked me and let me go to the bathroom. Feeling very relieved, I went back to bed and slept until time to go home!

I found that I had stopped breathing 36 times per hour during my light sleep and 50 times per hour during my deeper sleep. No stinking wonder I am tired all the time. Now I have to go back for the CPAP and I dread it but if it will help my body, get the rest and oxygen it needs to function at optimum levels, it will be worth all of it.

God built our bodies to need rest and proper levels of oxygen to remain healthy and vibrant. Without it, we become lethargic, sluggish and have a difficult time focusing. In the same way, He built us to need to be in vibrant relationship with Him. When that relationship is, deprived of the oxygen of prayer and Bible reading, we will become spiritually lethargic, sluggish and unfocused. By adding relational prayer and Bible reading to our daily lives, we will become spiritually healthy and alert once again.