Bingo!

Round two of camping this summer is underway. We have divided our family into 3 teams and pretty much everything is a competition throughout the week. Two nights ago we joined a bingo game that the KOA staff put on. I am apparently a Bingo rookie. I bought 3 sets of two- game cards, 3 daubers and we gathered by teams around a Costco table. The first two games were filled with anticipation as we each were determined that we could somehow be luckier than the other 2 teams. But very soon it became apparent that no one at our table was going to win...ever. Our problem was not between family members but with the roomful of other bingo-players. I believe every single one of them had purchased the FOUR-game cards (giving them a huge advantage on every single round). As the realization settled over our table that our odds of winning were extremely slim, I watched shoulders slump and heard sighs escape. We played out the other ten games with as much good-attitude as we could muster. But most of the enjoyment, anticipation and pleasure of the game had evaporated with our hope...Aren't we the same in this life? If I had no hope that God will make all things right in the end then I would despair of going through the daily motions. If there is no hope that I can change those areas that I have been struggling with, that the people I love can beat their demons then my emotional shoulders slump and my spirit sighs. Without hope what's the point?! How thankful I am that I can trust in a God who does rescue, who does restore, who does rebuild! I can live this life with the pleasure of anticipation. It's like having a billion-game card! And I like those odds.

"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." Psalm 27;13