BACK and FORTH.

"Trust the past to God’s mercy, the present to God’s love, and the future to God’s providence."

 -St Augustine of Hippo

A lightsaber lay in the middle of the sandbox as I headed out to supervise the kids as they played. Only, it was not ours and at first, I could not even tell what it was. As I picked it up, I realized perhaps it belonged to the kids that lived just over the cement wall. I could hear sweet voices and giggles coming from their direction. As I peaked my head over, I sent the lightsaber above the fence and asked if it was theirs. It was. I moved on to patrol the sandbox once more. 

Before I knew it, a curious blonde boy, the type of kid that watches the teacher's every move, decided that he should start throwing all of our toys over the fence. I quickly got his attention and explained to him that I was only returning what had been thrown over the fence accidentally. The giggling boys on the other side tossed our toys back along with a ball that had to have been one of theirs. Soon, a game had begun. I watched, trying to contain my laughter, as a group of boys on our yard returned the neighbor kids their ball only to pace the fence and anxiously wait for those same boys the throw it back. 

Over and over the ball went, BACK and FORTH. Sometimes it would come back right away, other times those wide-eyed kids waited for minutes, running the line of the fence. And then jumping in glee when it finally flew back over the brick wall!!

And while the whole thing was hilarious enough on it's own, I think the best part was that the boys on my end of the scene had to idea who was calling the shots on the other side of the fence! There was no way they could see the other side of the wall. And so as the ball flew back over each time, in their minds it could have been Batman or Santa Claus or a scary monster on the other side. And maybe that is what added to the enchantment and excitement as they played together. Throw and wait. Throw and wait. 

There in the sand box I found a small piece of my heart in those little boys. Our life can be like the game those boys so freely created that afternoon. Back and forth. Give and take. Catch and release. 

Sure, there are some things in life we can control. I am sure you controlled what clothes you put on this morning. Most of us control the channel on the TV. We have control over things we chose to eat and what we chose to do with our free time. But, like the boys learned that day, some things just are not in our control! 

Have you ever played phone tag? That game is frustrating, but you cannot control when someone else is going to be available to answer the phone. What about the football game you watched this weekend, can you control the score? We cannot control the actions of our friends or our families or the line at the grocery store. The truth is, there are just some things in life that require us to surrender control over to another. It is like tossing the ball back over the fence. All of a sudden it is out of our hands and we have no say in what happens to it next. But we wait, some times anxiously, to find out when we will be given the opportunity to hold it again. 

The truth is, I am terrible at the waiting and I am also terrible at figuring out who is on the other side of the fence. But as I watched the boys that day, I knew I had been tossing the ball back over the fence to God. Yes, humans, friends, strangers may help him throw the ball back over, but ultimately God is putting the ball in their hand. Throwing the ball back over the fence is a struggle for me. To be honest, I do not trust what decisions people might make and the things they might do, or if I'll even get another chance to catch the ball. But see, those people, they do not have the final say. They do not get to make the decision on how, and when, and where God is going to place the ball back on my side of the fence. 

All our lives are moments of back and forth. Exchanges and encounters. And yes, these moments with people will shape you profoundly. And sometimes your life, or what happens in your life, will be in human hands. But more than that is the back and forth we share with God. Those moments where we say, "God, this is yours," are the moments when we really define, for ourselves, who gets the final say on what happens with the ball. 

Our futures, our careers, our relationships; we have to at moments leave them in the hands of another, but when we trust in the power of Christ we must KNOW that while in another human's hands, they are in His hands too. 

Throw the ball back over the fence. Let God have a chance to show you, He's always got a way to make the game work on your behalf.