Thoughts for today

As I was thinking about our Ladies Group at church, and the various activities we had planned last year, and what I thought we might do for the next few months, I started thinking about how much fun we had just playing board games. We sat around big round tables, laughing and sharing each others frustrations about the 'game' we were playing. But, then it occurred to me that it is also what we do in the 'game' of life. We attempt to build relationships on how we play our part in the game. We plan out a strategy, arrange our cards, and then go out into our world and expect to find fullfillment by winning the game.

When I consider this, I wonder how we build true relationships. Are we playing all the cards and finishing the game with a winning hand all the time? Or do we hold back a card or two, just in case. I would submit that occasionally we find that we are so busy working our strategy that we forget to immerse ourselves in real relationships. We only share that part of our life that we find lovable. We don't give in to sharing weaknesses or what is hard about our life. Thus, people don't really know us. They only know what we want them to know. We are playing a game. But, we don't set out to win this one. We just want to get by.

But, what does God want for us? I beleive He is asking us to have fullfilling, open relationships so we can build each other up, know when our friends are weak or hurting, thus needing our prayers. We need each other. We need to have people in our lives that know us well enough to tell us when we are headed for trouble.

Let's stop playing games with one another, and submerge ourselves in true relationships.