Game of Life

Have you ever felt that your life was just not going as planned? That perhaps you missed an essential turn, or stumbled over one too many bad decisions on your course? This week, I feel like a failure at the game of life.

Literally. See, the local pharmacy has been hosting a "Game of Life" promotional for the past month and a half. Similar to a well-known fast food chain who offers "Monopoly" it was a simple matter of collecting tickets, pasting them on a gameboard and gloating over a new kitchen, a 10,000 dollar room makeover, or a cash prize. Woohoo!

I began buying all of my diapers (in my case, a significant expenditure) at said pharmacy. I began buying my bottle liners, and panty liners and eye liners there. I must confess their little promotional game worked well--for THEM. I collected my tickets faithfully, sped home, and slapped them on my game board. I accumulated 34 tickets. Unfortunately, I netted a whopping ZERO prizes.

In nearly every category, I am one shy of the win. No matter the 250,000 mortage or the $20 gift card, I lose by one ticket. One. Ticket. I must say that this mirrors my real life in a depressingly familiar way. It seems I am perpetually one payment late on the bills, one car shy in the drive, one month overdue for a date, one McFlurry too many to succeed at self-control, and one pound from losing a pound.

It takes a minute, and a little work, to remind myself that the pharmacy doesn't get to decide who the winners in life are. My missing tickets have become, I think, a distraction from the one thing that should most define me. My reminder came from the Holy One Himself:

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;

one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

one God and Father of all who is over all, and through all and in all

but to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift"

--Ephesian 4:4-7

If I have been given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift, why am I whining about not winning a Wii? I may have missed out on a 2010 G37 Convertible Infiniti...but by God's grace I have won the prize of eternity! Woohoo!