My family relocated to a new state a while back, but my son has really struggled with the move.

Before we packed up and made the journey, if you’d asked me which one of my kids I thought would have the most difficult transition, it would not have been him.

My daughter has done well; really thrived.

She is very much like me. We go into every situation with both eyes open. No matter what it is, we embrace the experience and make the best of it.

That can be both good and bad, but I my son’s process of adjusting hasn’t been as linear.

Barrett’s first baseball game of the season was on Monday night.

He didn’t want to go. He was nervous – but didn’t want to admit it. He wanted to give up.

Here is the same kid who, just one year ago was Mr. Baseball.  That’s all he ever wanted to do. He even slept with his catcher’s mitt under his pillow!

But now, he didn’t want to play anymore.

That was really hard for me.

‘Not just because he didn’t want to play, but because my boy was struggling so much and there was nothing I could do, nothing I could say.

Well, he agreed to give it a try and went to play the game last Monday.

And guess what…he played great!

He ended up catching three innings behind the dish. ‘Stole three bases and ending up scoring the tying run in the bottom of the last inning.

When his team recorded the final out to win the game, all of his teammates picked him up and celebrated him.

He won.

And watching on as a proud and loving dad, I feel like I just won the World Series.

Now, Barrett is hooked on baseball again, really excited about his game tonight.

Another game under the lights (also the first time he has played under the lights).

Sometimes, we must push through the dark.

Sometimes, we have to help others push through their dark times, too.

We can’t do it for them, we can just be there with them as they take one step at a time into the unknown.

No matter the feelings of fear and self-doubt, we all must push through the dark and find the light.

Mr. Baseball is back!

And I guess a little bit of what I was missing is back, too.

-J.D.