Being competitive in any way has never been my strongpoint. My way for most of my life was to stay back in the shadows, happy to be in a supportive and edifying role. I thrive working in the background, being the person that loves to observe and help in ways that often go unnoticed.
Very recently, I am realizing that the Lord has been working in me and through me, freeing me to reach out further than ever before. Every day there are opportunities that are placed in front of me, and I can no longer ignore them. I believe that the Holy Spirit is guiding me, and I will not say no to the opportunities that the Lord provides…either for sharing His love with others, or for my own personal growth. He is changing me from the inside out, and I trust Him to guide me.
It’s funny where enlightenment and growth seem to show up. My son and daughter in law (Mike and Nicole) from Colorado were just here for a visit during the Easter Season. It was wonderful seeing them and spending time with them. Now, I must tell you, they are extremely competitive, especially in the game department. Both of them are very bright, and especially shine when playing word games like Scrabble.
In a nutshell, I have always loved to play games, especially word games, however I always played just for fun. I never took the time to figure or develop a strategy.
That would change when Michael asked my to play “Words With Friends” with them online.
It all started great, and I was having a good time going back and forth with each of them, enjoying the casual game. Then POW…they started REALLY playing. It took me off guard, and it felt overwhelming. How do they find words that bring in so many points in one play? How do they find ways to use small lower point letters, and work game magic with them?
I started to really watch their strategy, and how they play the game. What I learned from them taught me to become a better player, but much more important, it taught me a lesson about life.
You see, the mistake I was making in “Words With Friends” is that I looked at the hand I was dealt, and found words I could make using those letters. Then I randomly found a place to fit them in. What Mike and Nicole do, is look for the opportunities (Triple letter, triple word, double letter, etc) and find a way to use that opportunity with what they have in their hand. Most of the time, they found a way to use those opportunities, and their strategy worked amazingly.
Not only did this way of thinking change the way I play word games, it also helped me to understand where I could achieve more growth as a Christian.
We were all given certain talents, personalities and gifts from the Lord. We have the choice to take the hand that we were dealt and just randomly put ourselves out there, without much thought or direction. Or, as I learned, we can ask the Lord to open our eyes so that we may see the opportunities He places in our lives each day. Once we are aware of those opportunities, we can choose to look for ways to utilize the talents and gifts God has blessed us with, to work with and take advantage of the opportunities presented to us. (Notice I said take advantage of the opportunities…I did not say take advantage of people.) We will not only grow as human beings, we will also grow as Christians, shining the light of Jesus to all that we meet.
One more lesson I learned, is that even when we are aware of certain opportunities, we may find that our unique skill set, personality, or gifts may not be compatible. Just like not having the letters needed to take advantage of that triple word score…we need to just let it go, and allow someone else to shine with it.
God is loving us and showering us with blessings every day. He is right there with us as we learn to realize the goodness and love within our hearts. He is always patient and merciful as we learn to see and use the opportunities He gifts us with…so we can become closer to Him and share Him with the world.
What opportunities are you considering?
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Eleven years ago today, on Divine Mercy Sunday, my father passed away. It was very touching that his life ended on that special day, because he was a very conflicted man who was much in need of mercy…as we all are. Through conversations with him later in life, and also through the enlightenment of my own personal journey of faith and forgiveness, I know that he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and I also know that he felt humbled by the love and mercy of Jesus. He felt small and knew that he let his God and his family down in many ways…as we all do.
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