Block Games and God

When the kids were little, we had this travel block game. On each side of each cube are pictures that one would see on a road trip. As you find one, you turn the block to the next one, until you've found them all, and you turn to the final "X" side. During the early years of our family, we went through two sets of these - one melted in the car and we gave the second set away when the kids grew up.

About a year ago, Molly found the game on eBay and gave it to me for my birthday. We've even taken it on a few family road trips. I brought it along on this one, hoping that we may be able to turn all the blocks over to that elusive "X".

The best part of the game is how you have to notice everything as you pass it. If you pass a house, you have to look and remember closely, because you may have blocks with a water hose, birdhouse, and swings on them, and you want to get them all. You see things that would probably pass by unnoticed - but now you're looking especially for that dog house and trellis.

As I was looking out my car window today, I thought about the concept of God giving us a block game every day. What if every morning He said, "Here are things I want you to find today. They are in your world - you just have to look for them." Instead of looking for a fire hydrant or dump truck, maybe I would be looking for a sad child needing a smile or a homeless person needing a fast-food hamburger. Instead of glancing in the sky for that airplane or bird, maybe I would be looking downward for that trash on the street or an expired parking meter I could feed. Instead of spying that ice cream store or post office, maybe I could find those extra coats to donate or a non-profit who could use an hour of my time. At the end of my day, instead of all those "X" blocks, I would have sweet memories and smiles.

My travel block game is great - it helps pass long hours on a road trip. But spending time on God's block game would be even greater -for me and all that I find along the way.