"Who's turn is it to start?" "Who won the most games yesterday?" Typical questions these days between Hubby and me, questions I couldn't have imagined when we began our evening routine more than forty years ago.
We weren't long into our marriage when we began playing board games. It started with Scrabble, progressed to Parcheesi and, over the years, has included favourites such as Skip-Bo and Tile Rummy. We've added a game taught us by friends in Switzerland. In between we've tried and discarded a few others.
It's been interesting to note the parallels of life and competition. In the beginning winning was important, even vital. I confess that there were times when losing a round of Scrabble was the epitome of humiliation, especially since Hubby's first language isn't English. To my credit, he threw in a few "Germanisms" which I promptly rejected; to his credit, he has an excellent grasp of his second language.
Over the years we've celebrated, resolved conflicts (well, got the process started) and actually developed sympathy for the one struggling through a losing streak. Occasionally a bit of empathy creeps in but by mutual consent the outcome must take place without interference. Wouldn't it be great if the battles of life were so conveniently packed away at the end of the evening? Or, that conflicts could be dealt with by the spelling of a word?
As we approach Easter the promise was not that we'd enjoy a pain-free journey through life but rather that because He died, we'd have access to all the resources of heaven. When it seems that all we do is lose, how wonderful to know that His resources are sufficient for all our needs.
"all thanks to God, then, who gives us the victory over these things through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Corinthians 15:57, Phillips)
