The Game of Life

I've been really into playing games with my family lately. It can be challenging to make & take the time to be with others you care about. Cranium, Trouble, UNO, Catch Phrase, Balderdash,  Scattegories, etc. This is when you find out more about yourself & others. How to get along with each other, how to lose with grace, how to feel confident; but most of all... how to love & accept others.

I was thinking about an acrostic for LIFE & this is what I came up with. The acrostic model is one that comes from Celebrate Recovery. (Newell is the Ministry Leader for CR at our church in Boulder & what a wonderful one he is!) 

L ove of God I am not alone F amily & Friends E ncouragement

Life is easy, in The Game of Life, when you're an entertainer or a doctor grossing about $70-100 K/annually. Or is it? Don't they still have trials & sufferings? Don't they also feel alone & hopeless, too? I'm sure they do. Without the grace of God & His Love for us, how does one live fully? Life seems empty when we focus on the temporal things in life, but the eternal things. How often do we get excited about where we'll spend eternity?

In our busy & crazy rat race of Life, there are several things that one can chase. We can focus on knowledge & education (like Cranium). Do what feels right & get into the game of Trouble. Live for yourself only, thinking of numero UNO. Get what you can in Catch Phrase, race to get ahead like Balderdash &/or feel scattered like Scattegories. Saying & being Sorry! is totally ok in my book. Are you saying this when you were wrong? I'm saying it more than I ever have. Humility & forgiveness are tickets to freedom & grace. Play it...

I've been encouraged tremendously by a book called Heaven by Randy Alcorn. It exhilarates me to know that those who believe in Jesus will live forever with God, with new bodies, on the new Earth. My grandma died a month ago. My mentor's husband died six months ago. My best friend is dying from Lou Gehrig's, AKA ALS. How does one live with grief & tears because the love we have for others?

So, participate in the game of Life. It's not always fun but with people in it, it's very fulfilling! Choose to have an intimate relationship with Jesus, with your spouse & child(ren), & with close friends is the Only Way to an Abundant Life!