Ping Pong and Jesus
Santa Claus brought my kids a ping pong table. Some folks call it a table tennis table, but I call it a ping pong table. (Give yourself a pat on the back if you read that last sentence in your head like Carl from Sling Blade.)
If you think that having a ping pong table sounds like fun–you are right. Whether I am winning or losing or just goofing off, having a ping pong table is a lot of fun.
If you think that having a ping pong table is frustrating–then you probably have a bunch of kids just like I do.
Teaching kids to play the right way is frustrating. Officiating arguments that are caused by them playing is frustrating. Hearing them slam their paddles down on the table is frustrating. Trying to figure out why ABC agreed to air Work It is frustrating.
The frustrations, though, are worth it because of the fun.
In a way, this mirrors how I feel about life.
There are plenty of frustrations. The issues and problems often pile up even as we try so hard to keep that from happening.
There are plenty of reasons to give up. Things don’t work out the way we think they will so much of the time.
There are plenty of uncertainties as we travel along. What we don’t know about the future far outweighs what we do know.
All of those things plus every other bad thing that I must go through are worth it. But it isn’t because of fun.
It’s because of Jesus.
He is my Savior.
And I love Him.
And because of Him, life is worth living no matter how difficult it becomes during this year and beyond.
I hope you feel the same way.
What do you do that is both fun and frustrating?
How do you feel about Jesus?
When I played sports, the most frustrating were the ones where I was alone, i.e. tennis, ping pong, one-on-one basketball, spitting…you get the drift. Sports I had no one else to blame. Basketball-bad pass, or slick floor, or… Baseball-bad hop, lousy throw, lousy call, or… One day I realized it was about me and to quit blaming others. how do I feel? I would like to say I love Him unconditionally but that would be a lie. but I do love Him.
Being able to blame someone else–also a reason to be frustrated with checkers.
Blogging is both fun and frustrating. Video games are both fun and frustrating. I still have a tooth mark in my controller from my Nintendo. I got so frustrated playing a game I bit the controller. I was young. Don’t judge me.
You bit a video game controller. That is awesome.
I second Rob. Blogging.. lots of fun, but also frustrating… Especially when you are staring at the blinking cursor and you have… nothing! Ugh.
The blinking cursor is often not my friend.
I’ve always enjoyed playing ping pong, except with those that show up with the custom paddle in it’s simulated leather case thinking they are the Arthur Ashe of table tennis. But the sound of that paddle being slammed on the table in frustration is, unfortunately, all too familiar. But it does teach us something about patience.
Thinking about getting a custom paddle
In my past life I did the ping pong table Christmas. Was up until 3 in the morning building it for big surprise in the morning. So much fun. The fun/frustrating dichotomy is everywhere, especially when you’re younger. But as an adult, gold comes to mind. Even though I haven’t been able to play for like 3 years.
We were up until 4:30am. I was a little cranky the next evening.
I become the angry dad who wants to show my kids how to play the game right, and I make my entire family miserable. Thank GOD we didn’t get a ping pong table.
Ping pong tables have been know to cause high blood pressure
Lawncare is fun and frustrating to me.
Jesus is just alright with me.
Lawncare is not fun. If you think otherwise you are a weirdo
I love ping pong…we have an old ping pong table in the youth room and I pride myself in the fact that none of the youth can beat me
However, I do get really annoyed when it seems like 4 ping pong balls are broken every Sunday and the paddles keep getting slammed on the table.
Yeah–my kids have destroyed at least 6 ping pong balls so far. Ugh.
Jesus is my life. He is the only thing that kept me from walking in front of a bus last year. He’s the only reason that I could literally put myself out in front of the world for 365 days during one of the worst years of my life. He is everything.
But being honest…I’d sure like to have some time with Him in a joyful season of jubilee rather than what seems like struggle after struggle.
He is everything. Hoping for a joyful season for you this year and beyond.
Wii anything.
I concur