We've just started to attend Central Baptist.  It's a joyful place to Worship God.  The Pastor, "Wes", kept talking about the summer Wii bowling league.  I don't do video games, I simply don't have time for them. So, I patiently listened to his announcements but pretty much ignored the idea.  After Worship one day, however, a new friend named Chuck saidto me, "Are you going to do the Wii bowling with us this summer?"  I replied, "Well, it's something my son would like to do, but I'm not really into video games". Chuck responded, "You and your son should be a team and do it together".  Well, my son and I struggle to find things to do together as our interests are very different, but as the "Dad", I do feel the need and desire to keep attempting to make some connections.  I went home that day and started to hear the voice of God saying "I'm giving you an opportunity here today, take it and run with it".  All I could think was, "Geez, Wii Bowling?  I don't even know what a Wii game looks like."  Over my life, though, I have learned  - you can always trust in what the Lord says to you, whether you agree with it or not.  I saw two opportunities:

So, next Sunday I said, "Yo Chuck, We're in".  The league got setup with nine teams and lots of  experienced Wii bowlers.  I missed the first game because of business travel.   The next couple of  weeks, however, my son and I bowled, and had a blast.   The fourth week, all of my kids were away and my wife was off on a Mission trip, which left me home by myself for the week.  I needed a partner, but didn't know who I could ask! Well, my mother (who is turning 81 this month) and my father (who is struggling with cancer) both used to bowl together in a league for years.  I thought, "What could be better than to invite Mom to fill in for a week?"   She thought it was a bit funny to "bowl on the TV," but agreed to take part.  So, she and Dad came down to visit (Dad thought it would be fun to watch the game), and off we went to bowl.   We took 2 out of 4 that day, not bad for a bunch of rookies.  Leaving Chuck & Vicky's "lane" that evening, my mother said, "I might just need to get one of those Wii's".  Wow, an 81 year old woman wanting to play Wii bowling!

The Wii console is still hard to find.  Most stores have a spot for the consoles, but they are all empty.  I was able to get off work early the friday during the week I was alone .  Knowing Mom and Dad need help around the house, I called to see if I could be of any assistance.  Dad said, "Just come up and go out to the diner with us to eat".  So, I thought I'd surprise them and check out the local stores for a Wii.  The three stores on the way to their house, were all out of Wii's.  I didn't manage to get them a Wii, but dinner was great, (it's always good to see Dad smiling even though he's suffering from a rough disease).  I left that evening, our dog was home waiting for me to arrive, but I thought I'd detour to the local K-mart, because I heard sometimes they have a Wii's when no other store does.  I walked in, and there was one box in the cabinet!.  I snatched it up, got an extra controller, and took it home.   I called Mom from the car before leaving, and said "Mom, you are now the proud owner of a new Wii, courtesy of your son. which is Dad's gift to you for your birthday". I took it home, set it up to check it out (bowled 4 games, one baseball game and one tennis match, just for fun!!).  Then, the next day, I delivered it to their house to set it up.  They were off and running with their new 'toy'.  

I went home that afternoon, feeling really happy.  What a journey. I went to church, listened to what I thought was a bit of a silly idea, but a few weeks later it doesn't seem so silly any more.  I have found much happiness in spending quality time with my 13 year old boy, not to mention joyously watching two fairly old people stand in front of a TV playing a game, sporting gigantic smiles. I can only sit back and think, "Wow, God works in very interesting ways."