A Different Perspective
This past weekend, my grandsons stayed overnight. Since it was rainy, we stayed inside and played games. One favorite was Slamwich. The winner is usually pretty good at slapping a hand down on a pile of cards and yelling things like “Double Decker” or “Stop Thief.” After a questionable practice round, we trooped up the stairs to watch a YouTube video on how to play. Once we learned how to play it correctly, the game instantly became more challenging. Funny how that works. And Mamaw lost what little advantage she had, since I can barely remember the last card I played as opposed to keeping track of three.
When they tired of Slamwich, the boys pulled out other old games. We played Cootie, the build-a-bug game. It took me several rounds for my bug body to gain a head. I acted all kinds of dramatic and silly about it, making it more fun for the boys. Then we played Pick Up Truck. After a couple of rounds by the rules, we went “off road” and made an obstacle course of sorts, seeing what objects the truck could plow through. The one thing the truck never budged was Papa’s phone—the boys dubbed it “the beast.”
We attempted to play Spill the Beans, but Emmitt was getting bored. He sabotaged the bean pile more than once, so there was never a clear winner.
Another highlight was when Papa made homemade pizza. The boys can get a little choosy about what they eat, so I was surprised and pleased when they loved Papa’s pizza. Even better when young David declared Papa was the real Papa Johns. And he took home the leftovers.
Papa and I were both relieved when David wanted to settle in and watch a movie. However, his younger brother wailed—heaven forbid they should agree on anything—so I told him to get my little kitchen notebook and pen—he’s our doodler—and sit by me. Throughout the movie, I played games with him. It thrilled his little imaginative heart. He made up pages of words—names for new planets in the fifth galaxy—and I pressed “buttons” to activate various tasks. It wasn’t relaxing because Emmitt can be a wiggle-wart, and Lacey, the dog, repeatedly got in the middle of everything. Still, all the hugs and togetherness with kids and dogs was pretty memorable.
Best of all, David, the ten-year-old, had been wearing his first pair of glasses for about a week. My concern was that he might not want to wear them—his father never wanted anything to do with glasses—but he loved them. His confidence was already better. He read signs and watched movies with new enthusiasm. I realized he likes board games for the same reason I loved to read as a young girl. Up close items I could see clearly. Most things outside or even across the room were hopelessly blurred.
Before glasses, David thought blurry vision was normal. When it comes to our spiritual sight, all of us are blind. None of us understands how God operates. But Jesus came to clear things up. He said, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” (John 9:39) The Pharisees hated him because Jesus’s words judged them. They were all about the rules, but they didn’t truly understand the heart of God.
When you don’t know what you can’t see, fix your eyes on Jesus. He is able to clear up the blindness and lets us see through his eyes. His vision is perfect. All the time.