Matthew Boyd is having a career year. After ten seasons in the big leagues, he was named to his first All-Star team. This 6’3″ southpaw is the ace of the Chicago Cubs.
Still, some of his best work is being done thousands of miles away from Wrigley Field. He’s working to strike-out sex trafficking through his “Kingdom Home” for victims, a ministry that’s transforming young lives.
“God continues to come through. The script He’s writing for me is better than anything I ever could’ve written,” Boyd tells CBN.
Boyd has a distinct hand in both his pitching, and with surrendered penmanship to his storied journey, overcoming career-threatening surgeries while yielding to the Author and Finisher of his faith. The All-Star left-hander has significant extension beyond his wind-up, having impact in lives a world away from the famed home field where he now takes the mound.
CBN Sports’ Tom Buehring sat down with Boyd to discuss his story.
Buehring: “Are you recognizing a distinction or the uniqueness of this time and this place for you right now?”
Boyd: “No moment should be bigger than any other moment. ’cause we don’t want to undersell what God’s gonna do in the future of what he is done in the past. But I think there’s just such a beauty sometimes seeing when preparation and opportunity all kind of come together. Moments like this! Of course, God can do that, you know. To think a year and a half ago I didn’t even have a team. But it’s still like, ‘Wow, man!’ It’s amazing.”
Buehring: “What has the current Cubs roster, franchise, in Wrigley, in Chicago, triggered your All-Star season?”
Boyd: “I get to play for the Chicago Cubs. With these awesome teammates and this awesome coaching staff. In this amazing ballpark, that’s Wrigley Field. The guys have made amazing plays. I’m a product of the catchers that are calling these great games. It is a group honor, and ’cause it’s, it’s not something you can do on your own. And they’re the reason that I’m having the success on a personal level. We all want to win a World Series, and that’s why we’re all here, and it’s just a special clubhouse right now.”
Buehring: “In 2023, mid-season, you suffered that sprained UCL, you take the Tommy John surgery …”
Boyd: “I had flexor tendon surgery at the end of 2021. But when I came back from that injury and that surgery it just never felt completely normal. And the flexor tendon went again, your UCL it’s not doing its job. I kind of had a little bit of relief ‘cuz in my mind it was like what I was feeling was true’. We’re gonna have another 13 months ahead and I don’t know what that looks like, but I’m gonna be healthy and I know what God has put on my heart that my best years are ahead of me and there’s gonna be work to be done.”
Buehring: “This side of post-recovery surgery, have you had to alter anything?”
Boyd: “No. I think more than anything, like in the rehab, when you have all that time to think about it – who I want to be, right? And it’s like what will I wish I had done? Like when the ball’s in my hand, I wasn’t wrapped up in anxiety or stress and all that. Like, I want to be free on the mound. I want to pitch. I want to be loose. This is who I want to be. This is who I’m called to be. That’s who I’m commanded to be. So go do it!”
Buehring: “You alluded to anxiety. Did it lessen the anxiety of …?”
Boyd: “Yeah, yeah, I think it did. But I think most importantly, is like when the ball’s in my hand, I know what I’m gonna do. I don’t know what the results are gonna be. I don’t know how it’s gonna go. But I know what I’m gonna do. And that’s compete! That’s pitch! And I think the clarity comes from that. That’s where all of that goes out the window when you’re trying to control the results; when you’re trying to dictate it; when you’re trying to write your own script and you’re really holding onto those things, that’s when all those other things come in. And when those thoughts come in, it’s like, okay, those are coming from a dark place. That’s not how the Lord speaks. And it’s like when you can understand that, it’s like, okay.”
Buehring: “How do you relinquish that grip of control, of letting go of expectations the way that you want them to go?
Boyd: “You simplify it down, there’s always what the flesh wants, always those things. But what am I commanded to do? Like I know when I’m commanded, I’m called to pitch. I know what it looks like; I know what it sounds like; I know what it feels like. If I’m outside of that, I’m really living outside of what I’m commanded to do. I can sit there and worry about my start in five days, or I can be present for my teammates in whatever way that may be. That’s what we’re called to do. Jesus meets us in relationship. That’s what he did. Didn’t matter who you were or what you did or what your past was like. He met you where you were and he just loved on you and that’s what we’re called to do.”
Buehring: “Strong enduring shoulders to go with that strong arm. You and your wife, Ashley, Have taken on the safe haven to bring children in who are at risk of sex trafficking in Uganda. How do you see those lives transformed with a nurturing, loving setting?”
Boyd: “I think what God has done in Kingdom Home is really, really cool. Ashley, she’s amazing in how hard she works and all the house parents that are pouring into the kids every single day, and the team of employees that are both in America and in Uganda. It’s all Him. The doors that he opens; how he continues to bring the right people around these kids. We’re just kind of answering the call and, and moving how he’s calling us to. Children living as they should and they’re not in situations that they’re vulnerable anymore.”
Buehring: “What do you admire about those kid’s courage in the face of some of that vulnerability that they have to confront?”
Boyd: “When you go there and you see the joy of the children. The situations that they were in and whatnot, like you don’t, it doesn’t even register because it’s, they don’t fit. And that’s just the testament to the homes that Kingdom Home has created. The environments, the house parents have created. There’s just so much joy and it’s really special.”
Buehring: “How do you carry the reflection of hope into this ever-changing, transforming world?
Boyd: “It’s just knowing that regardless of what our eyes see, there’s something greater planned. This is all temporary. We’re called to do what we’re called to do and called to live with that joy and hope and not be limited by any of the darkness. Acknowledge it, it’s there, but like, it’s not changing the story of what Jesus has done. The redemption that’s already been had. This life will end, but we get to live in eternity. That’s what it’s all about. So let’s do what you’re called to here. That’s gonna look different for each one of us. But the hopes in that, right? The hope’s in the cross.”
Buehring: “Jesus the redeemer. Who has He become, Matt, for you?”
Boyd: “Jesus, man. I mean, He’s everything! He’s teacher, comforter, and savior. Doesn’t matter what’s in front of you. Believe in what he said. Trust in that. Trust in His words. He knows our hearts in the clubhouse after a good game and a bad game. He knows what it’s like to throw a three-two breaking ball after missing with it. He knows what it’s like to try to go field a ground ball. He knows what it’s like to try to be a dad. Don’t limit him. You see Jesus more and more in everything that you do. I don’t know what tomorrow holds. I’m glad I’m not writing it. ‘Cause every time I try to, he always writes something better. We’ll just see how that goes.”
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