Bing-go.....Shhhhhhhhhhh

Last night I played Bingo with 6 other ladies. To begin this post I have to say a couple of things about me...if you know me at all...you know this...

1) Sometimes I don't follow the rules.
2) I have a distinctive laugh recently compared to etching glass....
3) I believe that there are times and activities should be enjoyed to the fullest. Throughout high school this belief got me into a great deal of trouble in gym class!
4) Not so good with numbers in any form!

That said, the group had 3 distinct rule breakers...including me; 2 rule followers; and one that I am not sure of because we only really met last night; and one who is a closet rule breaker who comes out of the closet frequently.

On Sunday morning, you should also know that one of the rule breakers, Heidi, came up to me at church and said, "you know we almost got kicked out last time and adding YOU to the equation...well, I'm just saying...." I think she was implying that I would be the one to tip the scales.

To begin the night...I walked into the Elks club and had my $10.00 and found out that I had to buy anther card for the first game...so $11.00. I said it was my first time and saw the dobbers and said...oh can I pick one? They said "Yes," and I picked up a very pretty "pumpkin" dobber and off I went to find my friends. I got to my table and the first thing (after the initial greeting) that happened...Pam asked me if I brought my own dobber. When I told them what had transpired...I found out I had STOLEN the dobber...it also cost $1.00. Pam saved me and rushed to the table to pay for it.

Now, when we played Bingo as a child it was in a row or blackout. Not the case at the Elks We Play For Serious Cash. There is the K, F, kite with a tail, diamond, frame, 9 square formations....and each game switches. See #4 above.

We were having a very good time but we weren't as loud as this group could be because of previous experiences and I was REALLY trying to control myself. So it wasn't long before Russ, I think he was like the Bingo bouncer, started coming to our table. Now Heidi, she thought he had a crush on her...I'm not sure that was true. He brought tape one time to put over Heidi's mouth...and came over to Bonnie, who was sitting next to me, and shushed her...she wasn't making the noise...I confess...I was...but I didn't confess that to Russ.

Pretty soon, a lady at the table next to us turned around and asked us if we had to talk all through the night (My mom always said it's not what you say...it's how you say it...this was NOT a polite request). Now, here is where it is pretty important to mention, that there were 2 boards that had the numbers in lights AND the person who was calling the numbers used a microphone. Deaf and blind, she wasn't. I didn't think that we were in the library so I thought that was the idea...come for a fun night and donate money to charity....NOPE! I found out that is not what Bingo is all about. Our neighbor's comment pretty much struck a match under Heidi who then began explaining different scenarios to us as to why we could be at Bingo. Each one was funnier and funnier.

I knew that my etched glass laugh could become a problem so I clapped my had over my mouth and only made noise when I inhaled...And that's when Russ figured out that Bonnie was not the problem, it was ME. After that he came by our table and "hit" me 2 times. (Okay, it was just a tap but that seems less dramatic!)

It didn't take long to realize that no one clapped for the winner so our table took that on for all of the winners. When Pam and Jenny won at our table....we cheered...no one else cheered when they won. We certainly had a good time and we laughed with one another. However, toward the end of the evening, I mentally saw the headlines in today's Bellingham Herald....Woman at Elks Bingo goes on a raging rampage and takes out 7 Bingo players who disrupted her game....So, the 7 of us, cleaned up the tables, talked to Russ, and found out where we should sit next time we come...

You see, on the back of the instructions, was

RULE #6

Limit your noise and if you can't please go to the glassed in area.

We will be in the glassed in area next time...I think that will only be worse because you see, what they didn't know...we WERE controlling ourselves...behind the glass...

I'm not sure we can be held responsible for trying to keep quiet. There may be an exception to

Rule #6

...For the Gnome and the Comb Gang*...you may sit in your cars in the parking lot!

Again, my idea of fun and serious was a conflict. If you look up pictures on the Internet it seems like everyone has fun...don't be fooled. Unless you play with us...you won't have fun...in fact, Rule #6 pretty much guarantees that you won't.

*This is a whole different post!

As a PS for Bingo. On the very last game, the caller said, "All the O's have been called." I looked at my card and realized...not all MY O's were covered. So, did I win? Who knows? Did I have fun? Yep. And as you can see...the headlines in the Bellingham Herald...won't report a raging gunman taking out this group of friends that I really love.

The hands of Christ....

This summer our church has adopted a Season of Service. Throughout the community several other churches have banned together to serve the communities in Whatcom County...

Today volunteers from Cornwall Church went to Nooksack Middle and High schools....and painted the rooms and the hallways. What a joy! Teachers, CEOs, yoga instructors, mom and dads with their kids, professional painters, electricians, funeral directors, secretaries, McDonald's workers, Highway Patrolmen, and many more walks and ways of lives banned together to impact the county. If my calculations are even a little right....between the High School and the Middle School...A little over 300 volunteers X 6 hours of work X (I figured $10.00-pretty sure that is not union wages!) = a little over $17,000 that the school doesn't have to spend...& that is not counting all of the paint and the supplies!

Yes, there was the obvious result of painting the school, which will in turn save money for the district, which could save programs....that's one of the reasons. But the big reason...to be the light of Christ at the school. As teachers, students and parents realize what was done for the school, maybe they may want to find out more about these people who invaded their school. The people who came one day and transformed their school. The church who paid for the paint and painted everything. Maybe they will want to visit the church where all of these people say they are from. And when they come...they will hear that Jesus loves them. That this same Jesus died for them and desires to have a personal relationship with Him. And maybe...because a group of people from Cornwall Church who gave up a Saturday to paint their school....maybe they will come to know Jesus in a personal way...and that is why this was such an amazing project. The gift is not the painting...the gift is JESUS!

And for us...it was fun. We met new people and worked closely with them. Our Saturday...what a blast to work for a King!!!!

Breath and Trust...

This is the book that my small group is reading. Patsy talks about all of the different lights in our lives and compares those lights to our spiritual lives. She has talked about nightlights, Christmas lights, flashlights, reading lights...well, you get the idea. This week we were reading about street lights and spotlights.

It got me thinking about a couple of things...first streetlights... Patsy Clairmont mentioned the movie, Singing in the Rain where Gene Kelly swings around the lamppost and declares that he was in love and just wanted to be walking on his love's street [This author did warn that it was not to be done in real life but it's a little late now]...I realized that when I saw that movie as a very little girl, that was the love I wanted. To my recollection, Steve has never danced up and down our street, singing in the rain and declaring he only had to be on my street for me to realize that he loves me and it IS real. I decided that this was the beginning of many "pictures" of love that distorted my mind about what love should look like. (Just so you know, he has never come to me in a limo and climbed up a fire escape either). .. But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loves me.

The next chapter was on the spotlight. Of course it got me to thinking, if I had a choice, would I choose to have my path lit with a spotlight...at first...maybe... Then after consideration, I may back track and decide I really don't want to know some of the outcomes...loss of a loved one or an unwanted, undesired diagnosis would be right up there on the list for me that I would not want a warning because I already tend to be a "fretter." I can't imagine knowing something beforehand...I could be a mess in no time.

God knows what is best for each one of us. For some paths He lights the way with His spot light but in other situations, He illuminates my path with a candle light. There are moments in life that I long and beg for a spotlight when He lights a candle for me. He knows when I need to place my full trust in Him. He knows that if I had a spotlight view, I would probably run and hide and not take a step because a paralyzing fear has ensnared me and I can't take that step in faith. Other times when uncontrollable, irrational fear stops me from walking in faith, He turns on His spotlight to dispel the darkness and realize the shadows of life for that path are neither scary nor real.

God is God-our personal God who knows the perfect light and illumination we need in life and I praise Him for it. I praise Him for His intimate knowledge of who I am and how I will respond; and trust Him to use the right type of light for every situation, in every day. At times, a candle light and His hand are so much better for me when I walk through a difficult time. While other times, He spotlights His plan for me so that I will know which way to go. All of the light He shines on me has one purpose...that I reflect that light to others.

I think that sometimes because I can't see beyond the circle of light that I forget that no matter what I am going through...His light is sufficient. Really....He truly is sufficient for every breath I take...so, each day, I need to breath and trust Him and His plan for me....