Sunday, October 5, 2008

Monopoly of Love

My boys and I like playing Monopoly together. Well, actually, each of them likes playing with me, but not so much as a threesome. I think they've intuited that when one of them plays me, he usually wins; when the 3 of us play, it's a toss-up between them who wins. And incredibly, I NEVER win! Obviously, when I play games with my 8 or 11-year olds, I'm not in it to win, but rather to 1) just enjoy their company or, 2) motivate them to keep playing with me!

For kids who seem to only sit still in front of video screens, playing a boardgame is one of the rare chances I get to watch them THINKING in relative slow-motion. I love seeing their glee when they move their top hat or tortoise around Go and collect $200, and I dutifully show my horror when I land on their 3-house-Boardwalk (why o why did I trade him Park Place for B&O Railroad???)

Playing Monopoly with my kids is one of the precious times I get to say thank you to God for blessing me with fatherhood. Yes, I do occasionally look forward to the day I can play cut-throat Monopoly again (or Scrabble, Risk, etc). But not very often. I think when that day comes, I'll regret that my days of sure-fire bankruptcies and bone-headed trades are over -- and so, too, are their childhoods.

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose?...Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Rom 8:32-38 Message

21 comments:

meandering thoughts said...

Good thoughts. I often am amazed at how great it is to be a dad. Very bittersweet, the thought of them growing up. It is such a challenge sometimes for me to 'live in the now' and just enjoy them. Once again, good thoughts

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