A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile…
I thank God daily for our family. I can’t think of anything that brings me more joy unless it would be God Himself. We are not without problems; that’s for sure. We don’t all get along; that’s for sure. We all have our individual idiosyncrasies; that’s for sure. However, God seems to have given us the ability to set them all aside when we have a family gathering. While most families hate the holidays because their families will all be together, we love them. We love enjoying a meal together and then playing family games.
We love just about all kinds of games—card games, word games, board games, and even puzzles. While some might consider this a waste of time, we’ve always considered it time well spent.
When our son Matthew was about ten we played a lot of Yahtzee. So he spray-painted a big bottle blue and made a “Yahtzee Cup” flag to perch on top. A 4 x 6 index card was taped to the side of the bottle to display the winners’ names. Would you believe we still have that “cup” and we are still writing names of the winners on it?
Once when our children were little we were playing Twenty Questions in the car. You know the game where you come up with something for everyone to guess; then you tell them whether it’s in the animal, vegetable, or mineral category. Guessers can ask up to twenty questions to find out what it is. It was my husband’s turn and he said, “The category is animal!”
Off we went with our barrage of questions. Is it little? Does it have four legs? Is it found in the jungle? Can we ride it?
We had narrowed it down to a farm animal with long legs that we could ride. Imagine our surprise when he said was long, legged pig. He thought that was very funny. I did not. He had tricked us with some fantasy animal he dreamed up in his mind. This was not a good example for our children and I told him so.
Evidently I must have voiced my opinion more vocally than I thought because a few days later I heard our seven-year-old daughter Sherisa tell her grandmother, “And Mommy said if Daddy doesn’t play fair, she’s not going to let him play games with us anymore.”
In spite of a few faux pas, we still found family games were an excellent avenue for teaching our young children life lessons such as how to follow directions, learn new skills, take turns, interact with others, win or lose graciously, and play fair. Spiritual parallels could be drawn as well such as developing patience, kindness, self-control, and joy.
Of all the benefits of playing family games, the most important one I think was spending time together. Family time is almost a lost art form. Today, families don’t even eat together. Oh they may be in the same room but one child might be watching TV, another playing a video game, another texting, while Mom is on her computer and Dad is talking on his cell phone. However, with family games, all participants are engaged together.
Our kids are grown now but when our family gets together we still love to play family games. While playing we talk, we share, we bond, we love, and we laugh. I thank God all the time for the gift of laughter. Oh the joy I feel when our family is laughing together!
When I think of talking, sharing, bonding, loving, and laughing, I think of God. These are things I like to do with on my daily walk with God as well. Too many of us picture God as a fuddy-duddy incapable of having fun. I can’t help but wonder if Jesus visited our family today, would He join us in a game of one of our family favorites like Qwirkle, Encore, Nertz, Five Crowns, King of Tokyo, 31, Quiplash, Drawful, or Camel Up. I think He would. He might just consider it time well spent.
*****
O heavenly Father, I can’t thank You enough for our family! O the joy I feel when we get together and I hear them laugh. May each one feel special, loved, and appreciated. May I never cease to lift them up to You in prayer. Thank You for the wonderful things You have done for them—things they may not even be aware of. Give them Your favor as they walk through life. What an extraordinary gift You have bestowed on us. Let me never take this beloved gift or them for granted.
