Monday, September 21, 2009

life lessons in small paragraphs

Several things happened over the weekend: we played Clue with some friends, my parents came to visit, and a crisis was averted by the church being the church.

I feel that each of these deserves a brief description, and then it will take all my effort to find a common denominator and actually turn this into a coherent blog post.

Friday night we went to dinner with some good friends who are getting married next month, and afterward played about three rounds of the game Clue. I haven't played this in years, though it was a favorite of my sister and I. I learned something important though: this is not a fun game to play with boys. Neither of us girls won a single game, even when given the advantage of having an extra card, and the reason is simple--guys are willing to risk it when they're 90% sure. I have to wait to be 100% sure before I will take a guess, because it is worse to be wrong and not be able to play the game anymore. Anyone want to make a life connection here?

Saturday my parents came up. This has probably been the biggest adjustment for us in our marriage--learning to deal with each others' families. I love my family. But I have known them for 27 years and have had time to grow accustomed to their quirks. Lucas immediately sees these quirks. I could tell by the time they left on Sunday afternoon that he was really ready for them to go home, and I don't mean this in a bad way. I have the same exhaustion factor with his family sometimes too. Our parents are really different, and it makes being around the other's family trying at times. I can't imagine going into a marriage without having met my in-laws. THAT would be crazy.

While out with my parents, I received several texts wondering if I had checked my email. A man that had been on my worship team at my previous church had sent out a mass suicide email, and by the time I even heard about it, he had been taken to the hospital and updates were being sent out by several staff members. In a tragic situation, it was good to see that the church was caring for its people. It always makes me wonder how people can get through life without a support system like that. When things are hard in my life, I always know that I have the assurance of God's love and my family (biological or not), and that sustains me. I know that I am not meant to go through life alone, and I don't believe God intends that for any of us.

As far a common thread here, I'm coming up short...maybe you can pull all the threads together but I'll leave it with that. When you braid all three threads together, you come up with the stuff of life.

2 comments:

Samantha said...

I'm going to attempt to pull it altogether for you. Live is an intricate web of the good and bad, low risk, high risk, annoying and not so annoying. No matter what is happening in the moment, be it a frustrating game of clue, or a more serious event, God is always there, and live is always worth it.

Samantha said...

It would be better if I spelled life and not live. . .so it goes.