Sweetwater Presbyterian

Small in size, Large in Faith and Love

Devotion July 18, 2018

Greetings All!
When I was in Junior High School back in the days when there was Junior High School which now has been reconfigured as Middle School - way back then in those days of 7th Grade when girls discover boys and boys have actually reached that place where girls don’t have cooties anymore, I had a boyfriend. We had been friends all the way through grade school and somewhere along the way came that transition where the boy who was your friend realized girls could be something other than friends and you start calling yourselves boyfriend and girlfriend!
Well, the special thing about this particular boy was not his quick wit or suave charm or his good looks but the fact that his father was the manager of the local bowling alley. The nifty thing about that was that most of our ‘dates’ consisted of my parents dropping me off at the bowling alley for the evening where because my boyfriend’s father was the manager we bowled for free all evening and on top of the free bowling we received free snacks!
It was a pretty fantastic time of dating - I wasn’t a complete mercenary only going out with this boy because of the bowling… I did enjoy his company and we did have a good time together and as a result I got pretty good at bowling! But it was pretty sweet for the boy too because dates were pretty cheap for him!
What made me remember these carefree Junior High bowling dates was a trip to the bowling alley with my granddaughters. I asked them what they wanted to do and both of them quickly responded in unison - “We want to go bowling!”
Fortunately I knew where the bowling alley was and I figured bowling would be a good family outing!
And off we went to bowling. Now it has been years since I have bowled - I have been in leagues over the years and bowled on a regular basis but that seemed like eons ago and bowling it seems is not like riding a bike because you don’t automatically return to your former ability when you go bowling after many years of neglecting said sport…
So my granddaughters and I make it to the bowling alley and rented our lane and our shoes and found our balls and we began to bowl. Remember the riding the bike thing….. I started out this bowling experience with gutter balls…. Yes. Gutter balls…. Not just one but several and eventually the balls started actually going down to lane and knocking a couple pins down and eventually there was a spare and eventually even a strike but still mixed in were those gutter balls.
I started to worry that my granddaughters were going to get a higher score than me - but then they had those bumper things on the alleys so that their ball couldn’t go into the gutter!
We had fun, I was a little disconcerted that I did so poorly after my long ago history of pretty good bowling but the real problem came the next morning when my feet hurt, my neck was stiff, my finger was swollen and there was a whole plethora of aches and pains. I wondered what had brought upon this achiness, and I remembered the bowling! All those muscles that hadn’t been used in that way in years reacted to this sudden awakening and they didn’t like it!
Just like it is when we neglect God for a while. When something within us stirs us or something outside of us prompts us to return to the presence of our heavenly father, there is a learning curve to get back into the routines of a spiritual life; of our relationship with God. And you know, just like those achey bowling muscles there might be a little discomfort involved with that re-entry into the realm of God; there might be a bit of work involved in returning to a knowledge of the presence of God.
But as you begin the process, God will be there with his hands outstretched willing to pull you along and help you regain your place with him. Like returning to bowling, it takes some practice to get back to the routines of life with God… but it is worth it!

Amen!!
Joanne!


These devotions began in 2006 as a way to give us a midweek boost as we live out our lives as the people of God! Feel free to share them if you wish.