Lesson 01: “I WANT TO PUT IT THERE”

(To understand why I'm posting entries from my stay in W. Africa, please read the brief explanation "X-Cultural LESSONS/Observations."

April 2010

I was playing a game of solitaire on my laptop while staying in the city for a couple of days. Two young women and a girl stood behind me in awe, as they had never before seen or played the game on a computer. They were eager to learn.

I taught the girl first and after two attempts she still struggled to be successful so one of the young women took over. This young woman understood that the cards had to be played in descending order, but she did not grasp the concept of stacking the cards by alternating the colors black and red nor did she understand that only a king could fill the empty places that were created by uncovering all of the cards in a stack.

I instructed her in the beginning and slowly lessened my assistance as time went on. I sat quietly watching as she attempted to put a ten of clubs in an empty, or unoccupied, space. Finally, I said quietly, “Only a king can go in the empty place.”

She continued to click and drag the ten of clubs to the empty place. As she released the mouse the card would retract back to the pile it originated in. Determined she said, "I want to put it there.”

I said nothing. I had told her the way the game worked and she persisted to try her own way. By the end of the game she was mentally worn out and even physically exhausted from working so hard and staring so long at the computer.

Life is the same. We work so hard to do things “our way” only to find they are meaningless!(Ecclesiastes)
We are told that only the King can fill our empty places, nevertheless, we seek to fill them on our own and often with ourselves.

And all our loving Maker will do is wait, providing infinite opportunities to choose Him; His heart rejoicing each time we choose Him and aching each time we do not. By God’s grace, may we choose Him today!