Bubblegummer

Bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish...

How many pieces do you wish?

5

1…2…3…4…5…

My mother told me to pick the very best one and you are not it…

I remember playing this game over and over as a kid.  It was so awesome to pick the right number of pieces of gum to be the one left, the winner, the one who was “it.”

When my niece, Hannah, was three, she started playing this game with some friends.  After several times playing Bubble Gum, Hannah became upset and got into a little bit of trouble.  My sister, Amy, talked to her about being nice with her friends, about playing the game, and about why Hannah was so upset.  Hannah blurted out through tears, "I just wanted to be the bubblegummer."  After playing several games of Bubble Gum, Hannah had not been picked to be it.   

I couldn’t help but giggle a little as my sister told me about Hannah's tough day.  As I stopped to think about it, the idea of being the bubblegummer stuck with me :)  I mean isn't that what we all want?  We want to be the bubblegummer.  We want to be the winner, the one who triumphs, the one who doesn’t have problems, the one who gets to be it!  It's tough to watch others get to be the bubblegummer over and over and not have a turn.

Sometimes in life that’s how it feels.  It feels like we go through a dry spell of being the bubblegummer.  It feels like everyone else gets more turns than us getting to be it. 

Last Sunday the pastor used this verse in his sermon; “We are afflicted, but not crushed…” 2 Corinthians 4:8.  The verse made me think about how in life we are troubled and at times feel great suffering and anguish, but we are never crushed.  God is always there to give us exactly what we need, when we need it. 

The more I thought about being the bubblegummer, the more I realized I already am the bubblegummer each and every moment with God.  Each of us is the bubblegummer in God's eyes!  While the ways of this world may make it seem like others are always the bubblegummer, in God’s world, each of us is the bubblegummer.  We are it, every single one of us...no taking turns.  So sit back and smile, it doesn’t matter which number you pick, as long as you pick God…You are the bubblegummer :)