My children and I play a game in the car that we inherited from friends. It's called "MINI!"
Whenever you see a Mini Cooper car of any size, colour or type you have a to yell at the top of your lungs "MINI!" before anyone else can. The one who spots the most wins. It's brilliant fun and has enlivened many a long tedious car journey.
My son and I play it in the car on the school run every morning. It's only three miles but some mornings we have counted up to more than 20 between us (Surrey is a Mini-centric locale clearly) and it keeps us lively and laughing on even the dullest of school days.
Recently, a number of things have gone wrong for my twelve year old son. It's been a pants period for him and the final straw seemed to be last week when, en route to swim at a friend's pool, he raced in from the garden looking down at the steps and drove his head into a sharp, open window frame leaving a two inch bloody gash in his skull. NO. FUN.
Masses of blood, agony and an ice pack later, we headed into the A and E Department/ER and waited to be seen.
Several hours later -- head glued/painkillers given/concussion assessed -- we drove home. Trying to keep him awake I started the "MINI!" game. "No, Mum," he said quietly, putting his hand on my arm. "Not now." So we spent the remainder of the trip in contemplative silence.
I've been thinking about this since: when Life gives you a really hard knock and nothing seems fun anymore. In Guy's case he needed a bit of quiet at that point, but often it is possible - even crucial - to still look at life around you. Still claim it. Still name it. Still own it.
What if we went through our days trying to spot the presence of Jesus in the same way we look out for Minis? Imagine if that was our mindset, to see who could spot Him the most:
"JOY!"
"PEACE!"
"PATIENCE!"
"KINDNESS!"
"GOODNESS!"
"GENTLENESS!"
"FAITHFULNESS!"
"SELF-CONTROL!"
"GRACE!"
"REDEMPTION!"
"BEAUTY!"
"HOPE!!"
Which one of us would win? We all would.
Because when we look for Jesus in our daily lives - no matter what is happening - we will always find Him because He is always there. We only have to look and have eyes to see.
Just in the looking for Him, suddenly the world becomes a very different place.
jsg/July 2018