Then there are times when just out of the blue we are blessed beyond measure. One of those came over a year ago when I learned that Anderson County High School softball player and golfer Anna-Marie Hyatt had never missed Sunday School despite being involved in travel team softball and being one of the better girl golfers in Kentucky.
I approached her family about doing a story, which I held until just before she graduated from high school on May 30.
The story below ran in the May 22 edition of The Anderson News. I am thankful that I got a chance to tell the story. But I am even more thankful for young people like Anna-Marie who are not ashamed of their faith but are not pushy about that commitment. Just being in church really is a value we should all strive for.
Anna-Marie's high school softball career came to an end on May 28 when the Anderson County Lady Bearcats lost in the regional semi-finals to highly-regarded Oldham County.
But I believe Anna-Marie has won many greater victories with her faith.
Here is her story. Thank you, Anna-Marie and her parents, Todd and Lois Ann, for sharing it with us.
Keeping her commitment every Sunday
Despite busy sports
career, Anna-Marie Hyatt keeps her appointment
Anna-Marie Hyatt
won't be mentioned in any of the Miss Softball discussions. There
might be a few post-season honors over the next few weeks, but the
hullabaloo about them will probably be limited to a note in this
newspaper or posts on Facebook.
Even though golf is
going to help pay for her college education, she never made that
state tournament in that sport, missing by one stroke last fall.
There have been ups and downs along the way, but one thing has
remained constant.
“I was born on a
Wednesday,” Hyatt smiles, “and I was in church on Sunday.”
As she has been
every Sunday since Nov. 13, 1994 when Todd Hyatt and his wife, Lois
Ann Disponett, carried their 4-day old daughter through the doors of
First Baptist Church in Lawrenceburg.
Every. Single.
Sunday.
The Hyatt family
has not been at their home church every Sunday since then mind you.
Not when one of Kentucky's best high school golfers and a very good
outfielder is in the family. There are schedules to juggle, trips to
make and choices to entertain.
Except on Sunday,
there never has been a choice. Anna-Marie will be in church, somehow,
somewhere. The starting left fielder for an Anderson County team that
has designs on making the state softball tournament where she plays
her final high school game, Hyatt just finds a way.
“I just think it
is important to be able to go worship and be in Sunday School to
study,” she says.
“I really feel it
is because of the foundation that was being built during all of the
years of attendance,” Todd Hyatt says of his daughter's commitment
to simply being in church. “There are plenty of things that you can
do on Sunday but by being in church and absorbing whatever she has
will provide her with the means to face whatever comes her way as she
moves forward in her life. She may not realize that yet but she will
in due time. I know I do now but did not realize at the time how
important it was that Mamma and Daddy made sure we were all in
church.”
It is usually not
an issue during the school year. Very few high school golf
tournaments or softball games are played on Sunday. But during the
summer travel season, keeping that record intact can be tough.
“We have done
whatever it takes,” Todd Hyatt says. “It says in Matthew 18:20,
'For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there
among them' so we have done a lot of different things. We have gone
to a lot of different churches, we have had Sunday School lessons in
restaurants, in the car, on the beach, in the airport, you name it we
have done it.
“A lot of people
think you have to be in a church building but I don't think that is
the case. I think it is a pretty good witness to have an open Bible
and lesson in a restaurant or on the beach for people to see because
you just never know how that could impact someone.”
Hyatt faced a real
test Sunday when she was in New York City her school senior trip.
However, she gathered with several others on the trip for a Bible
study in the lobby of her hotel.
In a world where
such commitment to one's faith has become the exception rather than
the rule, some would see Hyatt's devotion as blind fanaticism, but
her parents see it as a simply by-product of setting priorities.
“When we were
being raised, we were just expected to be in church,” says Todd,
who played football at Georgetown College. “People sometimes talk
about avoiding bad habits, but there are good habits too.”
Todd also notes
that his wife has had perfect church attendance for 49 years.
And, Todd says, it
has not always been easy. There have been times when he or his wife
have had to overrule their daughter and tell her she was going to
church. “That's just part of being a kid,” Todd says with a
smile. “It hasn't happened too often.”
On the field, Anna
Marie Hyatt is a fierce competitor who was hoping to lead Anderson to
its third district championship in her four varsity seasons Tuesday
night. Monday, Hyatt was hitless in two at-bats, but walked and
scored a run.
As a freshman, she
got the decisive hit in a walk-off win over bitter rival Shelby
County in the district final.
But there have also been let-downs.
Earlier this year, she sat out one game for a team rules violation
and watched from the stands.
Her skill level
reached a point that, last summer, Hyatt was able to travel with
Sports Reach, a Campbellsville-based Christian organization that uses
sports as a platform to promote the Christian message.
“Last summer was
a blast,” Hyatt says. “We were able to minister to a lot of
people and that makes you feel good that you can influence someone.”
Over four summers,
Hyatt traveled in the summer with the Batcats, a local team, with her
father as one of the coaches. Her final year with the team, she and
her father prepared “Bible Bags,” a small bag holding a Bible,
devotionals about character and other spiritual materials. All of the
team members received bags embroidered with the simple logo, “Batcats
Softball Sunday School.”
Todd says it was
his daughter's idea. Players were not required to attend, but most
did.
“They would all
bring them to the park on Sunday and we would have Sunday School at
the ball park. … We even used the firehouse and EMT building in
Versailles at the park one day because it was pouring down rain and
they called the games off but the girls wanted to have Sunday School.
Anna Marie Hyatt
says seeing one make a decision to accept Christ is more thrilling
than a walk-off home run.
“It feels good to
know I have been able to help make a difference in someone's life,”
she says.
Sometime over the
next three weeks, Anna Marie Hyatt's days as a competitive softball
player will end. She will bypass softball to work on her golf game in
preparation for her career at Campbellsville University.
Yes, the daughter
of a former Georgetown player will be hitting the greens for the
arch-rival.
For now, however,
Anna Marie Hyatt, one of only two Lady Bearcat seniors, is trying to
lead her team to the state tournament for the first time in five
years.
If they make it,
there will be joy.
If they fall short,
there will be no regrets. In her mind, at least, simply putting forth
the effort to be in church is a greater championship.
Anna Marie smiles,
“I wouldn't have it any other way.”
