When I was a child, I used to love playing marbles. Our playing field had boundaries, all kinds of curves, bumps, across streams – depending on the imagination of whose turn it was to make a playing field. Before the game, we could call “steelies” for metal marbles, “peewees” for marbles half size marbles or “boulders” for those larger than the normal marbles. We would draw a starting line and somewhere in the playing field we’d dig a hole. Taking turns, we would try to be the first to get our marble from the starting line into the hole while staying in bounds. If we called “air,” we could launch the marble from above the ground. If the marble went out of bounds, we lost that marble to the other player. Once a marble entered the hole, it was poison. The owner of that marble then tried to hit his opponent’s marble which then became his marble. I would start the school year with one or two marbles and always ended the year with a bag full of marbles which I would then trade for candy or something else that a young boy thought was a treasure.

Every day I get out of bed to a playing field that either I or someone marks for me. I may begin my day without any marbles. To play, I need to beg or trade for a marble. Some days I have a choice of marbles to use. There’s a starting line and a goal. I need to be clever to stay in bounds as I try to reach my goal. Some days the playing field is short and flat – other days full of obstacles. Some days people are poison trying to knock me out of the game. I wake up to a game to play. I need strategy, skill, help and a little luck. Some days I have a bag of marbles. Other days I am a nobody with no way to play the game.

How do we assure ourselves that we successfully play the game? How do we navigate around obstacles and still remain on the playing field? How do we avoid being knocked out of the game by an opponent? How do we win?

Our children need homes where marbles are always provided, parents who smooth the playing field, parents who protect their marbles from enemies, parents who show the goal and parents who teach the skills needed to win. Are you helping your children in the game of life?

None of us are perfect as individuals – nor are our marriages perfect. As we work together to maintain our love and a strong marriage, our homes will be a good environment for growing and happy children.