Celebrating

It was Zac’s birthday on Saturday. We had planned to go to Longleat Safari Park. We booked our tickets, but then the weather came. The forecast was for heavy rain all day, not fun if you’re outside at a safari park. Then we realised quite how far away Longleat actually is from Crawley: about two and a half hours just to get there! And we’d booked a table at a restaurant for the evening, so we’d have needed to leave in the middle of the afternoon to get back in time to eat! Things were not going well. So we changed our plans and went to Top Golf instead. Last time I went to Top Golf I really struggled. Not so much with being at Top Golf, but with everything that went on in may head while I was there: the whole failure thing But I was determined to be different this time. I make it sound like you can just turn on and off the struggles that you live with. I don’t mean to make it sound easy because I know It’s not. But I was at least going to try. At Top Golf there are people whose job is to drive around the driving rage in a small van (all covered with protective metal guards) to collect up all the golf balls on the range. In a moment of excitement (or madness) I said to Zac, “I’ll give you £10 if you can hit the van!” His immediate reply was “How about £20?” His mother, who shall remain nameless, then said: “Make it £100!” All of a sudden there was an excitement as was watched Zac try to hit the van. Each time he missed I breathed a sigh of relief. But the tension rose with every shot. I’m not recommending you do this - I’m not sure the man in the van would have been pleased to know what was happening. But it was fun! And, when he finally did hit the van, we all cheered and gave high fives to Zac. Zac got his £100. We’ll talk about that moment for ages in our house. No doubt he’ll one day tell his children! It made me think. We got great delight in setting a silly challenge and then watching someone achieve it. How much more does God celebrate when he sees us growing in love or walking in grace. When we show the family likeness and treat others as he treats us. When we achieve even the smallest success. And I wonder how he celebrated that I enjoyed my trip to Top Golf and didn’t let my mind go to the dark places that swirl there. Maybe no-one else noticed it. But I know God did. And he celebrated that victory because he is always there, cheering me on. And cheering you on.