Bowling for God

Throwing a ball at things is the ultimate pastime for kids and, recently, the children’s ministry kids enjoyed a trip to the bowling alley. I eagerly joined in on the fun. While I’ve never been a fantastic bowler, as the parent of a child who bowled, I’ve spent many hours in bowling alleys and have heard a fair bit of coaching.

That night, I carefully selected my ball, not too heavy but a little weight, with comfortable finger holes that fit my grip. A table of elementary girls became my team. When it was my turn, I stepped up to the approach dots, took a deep breath, aimed at the down-lane arrows and concentrated as I stepped smoothly and released my ball (paying close attention to my follow-through.) My ball rolled beautifully, until it veered slightly off course and knocked down only 3 pins.

Despite the low score, my team cheered loudly to encourage me. With my second throw, I showed great consistency as my ball rolled along the exact same path as the previous ball and did not hit any pins.

As I waited for my next turn, I watched the kids around me wildly throwing bowling balls down the lanes. One student swung wildly but luckily for him, the bumpers were on the lanes. His ball bounced off the bumper on one side of the lane and ricocheted off the bumper on the other side of the lane before knocking down all the pins. A strike! The next time it was his turn, he picked up a spare on his second ball after again hitting bumpers on both sides of the lane. At the end of the game, several “bumper” bowlers scored higher than I did. How unfair!

Yet, this is a great illustration of our relationship with God. In the same way the bumpers guide the bowling balls to the pin deck, Jesus and the Holy Spirit point and guide us to God!

While my bowling skills were practiced and patient, our kids were enthusiastic and energetic. I was reminded that God uses what we bring and helps to guide us to God’s loving embrace!