The first game, I called a lot of numbers before anyone got bingo.
Notice anything suspicious there? Like the fact that I don't have one single number? I called 14 numbers, and my son had 11 of them, and I didn't have even 1. He only needed "N-37" and he would get Bingo! I thought, surely that punishment is a little over the top, right? I mean, it was only a half-conscious decision to pick the middle two cards out of my hand instead of the right two. It's not like I peeked in the bag and on purpose chose winning numbers for myself in the last game.
But something I'd been hearing around town lately (that grates on my last nerve when I hear it) came to mind. Usually said after someone who has had a rough go of it changes something in their life (not always a good change according to the Bible, btw), the phrase is "Good for you. You deserve to be happy!" What?! "You deserve to be happy?" I don't care if your closest friend spent the past week spitting on you (verbally and emotionally, not actual physical spit) and immediately after that ten more of your pseudo-friends/acquaintances made fun of you and told you you were a loser. No one deserves to be happy. (I can say that--I've been there.) I don't care if you've lain in a hospital bed with your brain on fire and you couldn't take care of your family and the doctor tried to give you quack medicine. No one deserves to be happy. (I can say that--I've been there.) I don't even care if you lie in bed every night, wondering if you have cancer, wondering how you will pay for any of it, wondering if you're going to die soon. (I can say that--I've been there, too.) The only thing any of us deserves is hell. We are sinners. If anyone is going to be happy, it will only be because God has chosen to shower a little grace on our lives.
Oops, I didn't mean for this to turn into a rant, but the point is that I realized that I didn't deserve to win. I didn't even deserve to get any numbers at all before my son won. I know it's just a stupid game, and you could say the order of numbers is completely random, but doesn't God control everything? When I saw my empty cards, I knew this was a message from Him. I could hear Him loud and clear. I needed to stop worrying about fairness and winning, and instead just enjoy this precious time I have to spend with my son. I mean, I was enjoying it before. But I wasn't relishing in it. I wasn't making sure these moments went into my "good memories to pull out later" file in my brain.
We eventually finished the game and started another one with the last four cards. About half-way through that game, Daddy came up and said "Don't finish the game; it's time to read Bible right now." So we left everything just the way it was (I was hoping we could finish the game between reading Bible and bedtime). As my son hugged me before going up to bed, he whispered extremely quietly into my hair, "Should I ask Daddy if we can finish our game?" I said I would, and I could see the hesitation in my husband's eyes. It was already about 20 minutes past bedtime, but he said yes, so we scurried up to finish.
Wouldn't you know? We sat down and the very first number I pulled out gave us Bingo! I laughed and laughed until my stomach hurt. What a fitting end to this roller coaster game! I was just glad it was over before I had to learn another lesson. I mean seriously, isn't one lesson in one day enough? ;-)