The Opponents Who Carried Her Home

In April 2008, Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky stepped to the plate in a conference softball game and did something she had never done in her entire college career — she hit the ball over the fence. A home run. As she rounded first base in disbelief, her knee gave out. She collapsed with a torn ACL, unable to stand.

Here was the cruel math: the umpire ruled that if her own teammates touched her, she would be called out. The home run — the only one she would ever hit — would be erased.

Then something happened that no one expected. Mallory Holtman, the first baseman for Central Washington — the opposing team — walked over and asked the umpire a simple question: "Can we carry her?"

The umpire said yes.

So Mallory and her teammate Liz Wallace lifted Sara Tucholsky off the ground, and they carried her around the bases, gently lowering her foot to touch each bag. Second base. Third base. Home plate. The opponents carried her all the way home. Central Washington lost the game because of it.

That is the shape of grace. You cannot get there on your own. The very ones who had every reason to leave you in the dirt are the ones who pick you up and carry you home — at cost to themselves.

Paul wrote it plainly: "While we were still enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son" (Romans 5:10). Grace does not wait for you to deserve it. Grace bends down, lifts you up, and carries you the rest of the way.