Want Something to Celebrate? Celebrate YOU!

I love the saying “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” When we were kids, we couldn’t count the months and days fast enough until another birthday rolled around. But, the older we get we’d just as soon let the next birthday roll around unnoticed – that is unless you’re my dear friend, Peggy Boerner. This birthday was a milestone one and she owned it because she’s the pilot of her “plane”. She’s a “can-do” gal who takes matters into her own hands and makes what matters – matter.

These photos show a group of Hyde Park friends (where I lived in Tulsa) who were invited by Peggy to celebrate and enjoy an evening out together. Riding in a limo bus to a wonderful restaurant and then to the historic Mayo Hotel for great views of Tulsa and more fun times together. I was honored to be among the invitees!

Proverbs 18:24 says “To have friends, show yourself friendly.” The Proverbs contain much wisdom about being a friend and how to find a friend. Peggy has been a dear friend to me in so many ways, the most of which is her "welcome mat". She always has “my room” ready for me in her beautiful, peaceful home and makes me feel so loved and welcomed.

I’ve heard adults and children say that they didn’t have any friends or that they had trouble finding friends. And there's probably a reason for it. There is a key to having loyal friends or making friends in the first place. We have to show ourselves friendly. And Peggy is outstanding at that – so friendly that she has her birthday celebration with her pals.

May I suggest that we all become better friends – having celebrations of life and living. We can’t do anything about the past, but we can sure do things differently now and in the future. We can enjoy the ride much more. We're the pilot on this flight and in many ways, it is like a RESET button. Each experience – good and bad, has equipped us to be better, do better and appreciate time more. It is the dawn of a new day, today. I know one thing for sure -- we can’t live in the past, and the future isn’t ours to predict. But, we can make moments, minutes, hours and days really count for what matters most.

I speak a lot about it, but I repeat: Treasure THIS day – make memories for yourself and someone else. Live as if there were no tomorrow. Spread sunshine. Give love and laughter and life to those who need an injection of fun, faith, and friendship.

The BAD news -- time flies, but the GOOD news, we're the pilot in the hands of the MASTER PILOT Who holds our future in the palm of His hands! And, I assure you, if indeed “time flies when you’re having fun”, then Peggy and I are having a blast!

The Escape Game

Among the epic adventures, my family and I enjoyed during my birthday weekend, The Escape Game topped the charts! Many people like playing games that challenge the mind and video games that avatars try to escape a situation, but this took it to a whole new level. WE were the characters and WE had to tackle solving scientific puzzles, decoding clues, performing math problems and solving scientific puzzles. Multiple locked boxes and clues were scattered throughout the room and we had to decipher those clues to hidden keys and combination passwords.

The themed rooms of 4th & 5th Grade Classes, Playground and Locker Room were chosen for us. We were locked in, and we had one hour to escape by solving all the challenges. With 13 of us in that room trying to figure out the combinations and situations so we could escape, it was a blast! I knew how passionate my family was about competitive games, but here we were one team trying to escape together. We were shouting out answers to questions and then getting so pumped when someone solved a task and a lock would open a door to the playground with all sorts of props used to solve the next challenge. Once that room was completed, the last room (the locker room) opened.

At the end of 60 minutes, we still needed about 5 more minutes to solve the last challenge. We didn't escape, but fortunately, the Master Gamer, watching us from another room the whole time, saved us from the peril of forever being held captive in school.

We learned many lessons:
~ Teamwork is the key to making the dream work.
~ Brainstorm before tackling the situation individually.
~ Letting the "experts" handle "their field of expertise" (i.e., the math guy, Payton Wallace, tackled the math problems for us! And the firefighter guy, Braden Wuerch, knew to “break the glass” and whoa-la – magic happened!
~ Communication is KEY to solving group challenges.
~ It is so gratifying and satisfying as a team when another WIN takes place, especially for the one that solved the puzzle.
~ After the fact, we realized we should have had ONE leader that led the charge. Yes, my family is packed full of leaders who don't succumb easily to being followers.
~ Ask for help when needed (there were monitors that were on the walls that if we all raised our hands and said “HELP”, we’d be given a clue that gave us an “AHA” moment.) We realized we didn’t escape because we didn’t ask for help enough.
~ We were all engaged in wanting to WIN together.
~ We were sure we counted the footballs correctly for the number we needed on a puzzle, but we didn’t look high or low enough. We spent way too much time on that decoding because we overlooked the obvious!

The lessons learned from The Escape Game can be applied to our lives on a daily basis. Every day we encounter challenges, problems, and situations that come our way. It is up to us and many times, our team, to decode messages, find clues that help us open up our minds to new ideas to complete a project or figure out a problem that is facing us. God is our Master Gamer keeping watch over how we handle situations. Instead of relying totally on the "goods" we have, He is waiting for us to say "HELP ME" and just like in The Escape Game, when we did, we would be given a clue that opened our eyes to what we needed. He has given us the Team Playbook (The Bible) for the clues and answers to all our problems, challenges and situations we encounter on a daily basis. If we grab each other’s hand while playing this game of life and help each other to succeed, then all locks, doors, and boxes will open wide to us for our GREAT ESCAPE. It will come when it is our time to escape into our real forever playground to live with Him eternally in a place where there will be no desire to ever escape.

Enthusiasm is Contagious! Be a Carrier!

Chuck E Cheese goes way back in our family. It started with my two kids and has continued through the decades with the grandkids -- and still now, with the youngest, 10 year-old Bryson. He needs his "fix" every time Nana comes into town. Older brother stopped going last year because, you know...."Chuck E is just for little kids!"

In December, when I came down to Austin, we ventured out to find a Chuck E Cheese. It took us 1-1/2 hours to get to it in the evening traffic, but we were rewarded for our drive because, on a Wednesday night, Bryson, myself and one other family were the only ones there. Bryson thought he was in heaven because Chuck E would come out every hour and encourage dancing and then he'd throw out a boatload of tickets. Bryson made a haul that night -- not to mention, because it was his birthday (I'm on Chuck E Cheese's mailing list), he got lots more free tickets. He played and played to his heart's content. In fact, we were the last ones there at 9 pm, when the doors closed. When we got home, he couldn't stop talking about the fun night we had. Big brother, 12-years-old Brennan, heard all the praises and I could see in his eyes that he wished he had gone with us. By the way, it only took us 20 minutes to get back home. Timing is everything.

Fast forward to this last Thursday night. Bryson has been relentless in wanting to go back to Chuck E Cheese before I leave for Frisco next week, so we headed out for another Chuck E adventure. Remember, Bryson's enthusiasm when we last went there? His enthusiasm was so contagious, that this time, BIG brother was not going to miss out on the fun, so he joined us. And fun they had! We arrived at 4:15 and left at 7:15. Three hours of non-stop fun, except for the pizza, which Brennan admitted "This is my favorite pizza -- I love the crust!" Brennan broke the record on the basketball throw machine, plus so much fun on all the other machines. The first time Chuck E came out....Brennan was not about to dance with Bryson and the other "little" kids and capture all those tickets that were blown out. Next time around, however, Brennan announced, "Nana, get your camera ready! This is the only time you're going to get me dancing with Chuck E. He did AND he even chased Chuck E down to get a photo with him. Both boys, yesterday, were trying to convince me to take them back again. My reply was "Next time!"

I shared this Chuck E Cheese saga, to reiterate what I shared yesterday, "Never postpone joy" to all of us -- young AND old. Oftentimes we think "acting our age" is to skip the kids' games, the kids' lines, the kids' fun -- because we've passed that age. We're big kids now and big kids act differently. NOT! You can count me OUT on that attitude. Bryson's enthusiasm was contagious. What if our enthusiasm for joy, laughter and fun was contagious to those around us? Wouldn't they want to join us for the thrills we're enjoying AT OUR AGE? Like Brennan, he had no idea the fun he was missing until he heard and saw "a kid's" expression of joy. Maybe it's time to follow the Master's lead and become like little children again!

Matthew 18:2-4 "Calling a little child forward, He had him stand among them. Then he said, “I tell all of you with certainty, unless you change and become like little children, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."