When you have the right allies,

there is no need to worry about the

strength of your enemies.

Teddy, a 30 year old man with Downs Syndrome

displays joy in the purest form in this video from

an April 18th Cincinnati Reds game.

Serving in the role of bat boy in this particular game,

Teddy seems to have a special

bond with Reds 3rd baseman Todd Frazier.

Following a Frazier home run, Teddy rushed from the

dugout to greet Frazier with uncontrollable excitement

and enthusiasm after he crossed home plate

(with a meaningless run to make the score 11-1).

But the camera kept going back to the bat boy,

and every camera shot showed him smiling at the

top of the dugout steps, pumping his fists and

looking toward theskies as if to say,

“Thank you God! This is the greatest moment ever.”

As the game progressed, additional camera shots of

this wonderful young man showed that, to him,

pretty much everything is “the greatest ever”.

Retrieving a bat from the field, running onto the field to

give the home plate umpire a fresh supply of balls…….

same enthusiasm, fists pumping, looking toward the skies…..greatest moment ever.

Watching this young man with tears pouring down my

face, I knew there were lessons to be learned just from

watching him.  On the surface, it was easy to see that

this young man’s joy was so contagious, putting smiles

on the faces of the players  and obviously capturing the

hearts of the commentators and anyone watching on tv.

I’d also venture to guess that Teddy

has the ability to bring out a caring side in people with a

special talent that few others possess.

In Matthew 18:3 Jesus said,

It occurred to me that Satan is the one who robs us of our joy.  And it would appear that God gives children and special individuals like Teddy a special protection that does not allow Satan to steal their joy (there was such a pure innocence in his joy).  Satan cannot take away ours either unless we allow him to.  When our faith increases, we draw closer to God.  As He becomes greater, we become less, and we grow in peace and JOY.  We can trust Him more, much in the same way a child trusts parents without question and fully realizes their dependence on them.  We  DO have the right ally and

we must lean on Him daily to defeat our enemy and

claim what is rightfully ours as his children…..