When I was four years old, I traded my ballet slippers and red lipstick for a pair of cleats and a jersey that went down to my knees. With my dad being an athletic trainer at a D1 University and having two daughters, he did his best to grab a hold of my interests, and that he did.

For the next 11 years, I played the greatest game known to man (yes, I love it more than football) and baseball/softball became my first love. While I gave up my weekends to play 5 or more games in a 48 hour time span and spent more time at the field than anywhere else, I learned more than how to run the base path aggressively and lay down a proper bunt; I learned about the guy who blessed us with this sport. After giving my life to Christ when I was 14, I saw baseball through a different view, and only fell harder for my first love as well as Jesus Christ.

Here's how baseball ties into Christianity and what it taught me about the coolest guy around:

1. Community is key

It is constantly reiterated in the Bible how important community and friendships are. Just like in the church, your teammates can keep you accountable when you make mistakes, and walk alongside you to encourage you. The bond you have as teammates is different from a regular friendship; out on that field, you go to war together. In life, we're all constantly trying to fight what the enemy throws at us. But when you have people trying to fight the same war, it makes the battle easier to handle and much more enjoyable too.

2. It's Scary to put Ourselves Out There

Being one of the faster runners on my team, my coach always gave me the sign to steal second the first pitch after I had gotten on base. No matter how good you are at stealing bases, the thought in your head of getting out is still terrifying and very real. In life, God asks to do things that are constantly out of our comfort zone. But just like my third base coach, he believes and knows I'm capable, even when I didn't always believe that myself.

3. Sacrifice Pays Off

Let's be real; no one ever loves getting the bunt sign from your coach. You'd rather go yard and just try to drop a bomb over the slightly arrogant center fielder. Baseball requires sacrifice in some cases, but it's worth it. You move a potential run to help the whole team win. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of making sure we had the opportunity to defeat death. He could have easily lived a blameless life, died peacefully, and been on his way. But he did what he had to for the greater good of the ones he loved. When we sacrifice our chances for a home run, we learn selflessness and the humility of Jesus.

4. The Curve Ball is Always Tricky

I don't care how great of a hitter you are, how long you have played, or how much you know about pitching, the curve is dirty to us all. There's a reason they made a whole movie about it. aka "The Trouble with the Curve." The wicked spin and the uncertainty of it doesn't make any hitter confident, but we learn and practice ways to defeat it. In our walk with Christ, we know we're going to go through seasons of being great with him and trials of uncertainty. But by practicing and preparing for these things, we have a better chance of making contact by knowing where our foundation lies and being prepared for it.

5. We Don't Always Get The Call We Want

You can ask any of my teammates to this day about how awful I was about this one. If I thought the umpire made a call that wasn't right, I was the first one to be held back. I felt like we had an opportunity taken from us, that it was unfair. But at the end of the day, we still got to play the game we loved and usually still ended up doing okay in the game. God doesn't always give us our dreams, our desires, and our wants in the way that we would like, but that doesn't make life any worse or different; it's still an honor to be a part of it.

6. You are a Body as a Team

I think this has always been one of my favorite things about baseball and softball; you can't have just one star player. If you were to put me in the infield, I can promise you that there would be countless errors. I even had a game when I tried the art of pitching and walked 16 people. But once I found the outfield, I grew and progressed as a softball player. Christ uses our talents, strengths, and weaknesses to perform different works for his kingdom. Even though I can't pitch to save my life, I played with people who definitely could. It's the same with the body of the church; we're not all called to be missionaries, pastors, or sing in the church choir. But God's in the business of putting you where he needs you at the right place at the right time, so play your position with joy!

7. We Get More Than One Shot

In the same way that we get an unlimited amount of how many foul balls we hit, God gives us endless opportunities to try again and make things right. We may get frustrated with not getting direct contact or hitting an RBI at every pitch we're thrown, but getting a piece of it is better than nothing at all. God would rather we understand and pursue him and improve our lives, even if it's only pieces at a time, than not at all.

8. We Don't HAVE to be Perfect

It's cool to think that you could maybe only hit 40 percent of the at bats you have and still end up in the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2013, David Ortiz, the MVP for the MLB World Series, had a final batting average of 0.688. While that's ridiculously incredible, it still wasn't perfect, it was just more than accepted. Christ sees us in the same way; he's not looking to see that you're batting 1,000, he just wants to know you're trying

9. It Grows Us into Wonderful People

Both baseball and Christianity can hurt you, but they heal you and bring you joy and some amazing memories with them. Through all of the practices, strawberries from sliding, and running W's, it's so worth it. All that we do in order to be more like Christ, through all of our trials, pain, and how the world can hurt us, is still worth it. At the end of the day, you walk away with appreciation for all that the game, and life, have to offer. Nothing can beat that.

So as post season starts to come to a close, remember that Jesus is everywhere, especially on the diamond. After all, baseball is God's favorite sport. See Genesis 1:1: "In the BigINNING..."