Introduction

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in life that we neglect to enjoy time with our families. “A glad heart makes a happy face” (Prov. 15:13).” This program will focus on having fun with our corps families and spreading our infectious joy to others.

Decorations

Use game boards in the middle of the table as centerpieces, with twister mats as tablecloths. String up playing cards to form a banner. Scrabble tiles could be used to spell out the various food items on the refreshment table. Use the board game boxes to create different levels for setting up the refreshments.

Refreshment Suggestions

Serve meat, cheese, and crackers on checkerboards. Transform brownies into domino pieces using white chocolate chips as the dots. Serve finger food items such as pigs in a blanket, nachos, bacon cheese fries, and a quesadillas bar where everyone gets to choose their own fillings.

Activities

Saran^® Wrap Ball Game

This game involves a massive Saran wrap ball and a pair of dice. The ball consists of Saran wrap wrapped tightly with candies layered throughout. Place a grand prize in the very center of the wrap—a rolled-up t-shirt, a water bottle, gift card or a key chain.

Instructions

Ask the participants to sit around a table. The first person starts unwrapping the ball while the person on their right rolls a pair of dice, attempting to roll doubles. The person with the ball unwraps it until this is achieved. Once doubles are rolled, the ball and dice are passed to the right and the sequence begins again. If any treasures fall out while the person is unwrapping the ball, they keep them. To make the unwrapping more challenging, have the person wear mittens or blindfold them. When making the ball, if using individual pieces, change directions in wrapping to make it more challenging to unravel.

Spoons

Check the Internet for this easy game that involves spoons and playing cards. Google the words “game spoons.”

Never Have I Ever

You need at least a dozen people to play this game. The concept is similar to musical chairs in that there is one less chair than there are people. Arrange the chairs in a circle. One person stands in the middle and announces something that they have never done. For instance, the person in the middle might announce, “Never have I ever ridden in a hot air balloon.” Anyone who has ridden in a hot air balloon would then get up, leaving their chair unoccupied, and find a new chair. The person in the middle would also find a chair. Whoever is left without a chair is the new person in the middle and will take a turn announcing what they have never done.

The Burden of Competition

One of the ways in which my family relaxes and unwinds is to play games. We order pizza and play a rousing game of Monopoly^®. My daughter especially loves to play any kind of game. However, if you play a game with her, the rules only apply to you, not to her. My husband calls this “Calvin’s Ball” after the cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbes. When Calvin plays a game, the rules don’t apply to him. He makes them up as he goes, often changing them on a whim. When you play a game with a child, they do not want to lose. They think they are supposed to win every game. It’s up to us to teach them that in life things don’t always go our way. Life is going to be competitive and challenging. There will be moments when we feel absolutely overwhelmed. We are not going to win every game.

There are times when even a much anticipated family game night can go sour. This happens when we become increasingly competitive and our hearts begin to harden towards our competitors. We get angry and bitter until eventually … BOOM! “You want me to trade you Boardwalk for $10,000 and all your Green Properties? Forget–about–it!” Competition is a normal part of life, but it can very easily lead to out–of–control emotions.

As a wife, a mother, a sister and a daughter, I often find it hard to find balance between the various sides of my life. There will always be competition in the search for perfect balance in our lives. I constantly try and more often than not fail to arrange my life in such a way that each of these areas is in balance. Each is important, yet seldom do we find enough time and energy to devote ourselves equally to them.

I often find myself looking in the mirror and wondering: Did you see how amazing that woman is as a Godly wife? Am I as supportive as she seems to be? That young mother is simply sensational! Am I as attentive as a parent? Am I as uplifting to my sisters? Am I as respectful as this daughter? Am I? Am I? Am I? Once we begin comparing ourselves to others, the “Am I’s” never seem to end. We get stuck in a cycle of “AM I’s” and the competition seems unending. When this happens to me, I easily become distressed in a never–ending cycle of comparing myself to others. Consequently, all the roles I have in my life fall out of balance and I find myself circling the drain spiritually. Burnout and pessimism follow shortly thereafter.

In these moments of desperation God’s Word can come to life and speak directly to our hearts. Proverbs 15:13 states, “A glad heart makes a happy face.” Our loving God never intends for us to feel distressed or overwhelmed. God doesn’t want us to live in the valley of lowliness. He intends for us to seek Him out in these heavy moments and find peace and comfort in the fact that we are intentionally created by Him to be exactly who we are. The Psalmist wrote, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it” (Ps. 139:14). When we are faithful to God, we can be assured that we are exactly who He has created us to be. Then we can have “a glad heart” and make a “happy face.” It’s in these moments that we see God’s goodness and beauty in all things and the need for competition stops. When we take in the fullness of God’s grace, competition doesn’t seem important.

Imagine that our spirit is a water bottle. Each day we fill our bottles with many different objects. When we speak with God, and live faithful, holy lives, we fill our bottles with the Living Water. When we ignore God, walk our own way, and do things to please only ourselves, we are not living according to God’s Word. We are sinning. In these moments, we are filling ourselves up with worldly things, temporary things.

If we squeeze a water bottle hard enough, its contents will eventually come pouring out from the top. As things start to press in on us from all sides and the pressures of life come crashing in, what we have poured into us will come out. If we are filling ourselves with God, when life gets stressful or unbearable, we will push out God’s spirit. If we have only lived for ourselves or for the thrill of competition, then we will stand exposed.

Do you find contentment in God? Can you put on a smile no matter the circumstance because you know that the King of the universe is in your corner and has uniquely equipped you to be you? Then smile, for you, too, are “marvelous.”