One of my favorite little people, Taylor and I met up in Charleston this past weekend. Upon seeing me, and saying “hello’, she quickly declared an UNO rematch. And with every inch of pettiness in me, I obliged and even stated, “I will buy us a fresh deck.” I had never been so excited to purchase a deck of UNO cards in my life.
I noticed almost immediately, that the UNO cards that I bought long ago, were not the UNO cards I would be purchasing that day. The original deck of UNO cards simply held cards with numbers ranging from one through nine, R-for Reverse, S-for Skip, a Draw 2 card for each color (yellow, red, blue and green), and the ever feared-Draw 4 card -this one card has the power to make any man, woman, boy or girl sweat or a mild case of paralysis upon seeing it. Also included is the Wild card. This card simply allows the holder of this magical card to change the color of the cards currently being played to one that is in their favor. I LOVE this game! Add a little smack talk, and make sure the cards slap the table and you will have yourself a great family game night.
The deck of cards that I held this past Friday, now comes with words blaring across the box that states “Now with customizable wild cards” on the front. There is also a card that states “Swap Hands”- I immediately thought-who would need to do this? Nothing about the new UNO card game made sense to me; however, I purchased said deck of cards and went home to begin our “Girls Night In”.
We started with 3 players. In the first round, Taylor won, and showed out mildly. Shantel and I just looked at each other and smile. If this is your first time reading of my UNO fiasco card games, allow me to enlighten you. Taylor is a sore loser (but getting better)-she is infamous in our family for her sarcastic talk when losing, and loud cheers when winning. For round 2, it started as usual-but this time, Shantel was the first to call UNO, and was out of the game. And then it was just Taylor and myself. This game was one for the books. There were no Draw 2, Skip, or Reverses. There were many cards that were numbered one through nine of the yellow and red variety in my hand. Nothing fancy. Out of the blue, there arose a card from the deck played by Taylor entitled “Swap Hands”. I raised my left eyebrow, and indulged the rules of the games. Taylor just smiled, and opened her hands to receive my cards, and I her cards. Needless to say, in under 5 minutes with swapped hands, I not only played her hand but won the game! Taylor of course, contested greatly-lol.
Though it is an obvious lesson, it seems one that provokes me to share. This lesson seems to have legs, or at least with me it does.
Lesson 1-Somebody can win with the hand you have been dealt.
For a few months (namely since February- I paused in my writing.) For the past few months I have been dealt a few blows in life that have caused a stumble but haven’t knocked me out of the game. My dad is sick, work is stressful, family dynamics are changing, my time is limited. I have been giving God excuses after excuses of why I do not have the time to consistently write so I can post consistently on schedule. Someone else could be reading this and saying, “that’s all you got”. Lesson learned: Apply discipline and consistency, and most of all, TRUST GOD.
Lesson 2-Someobody can win with the hand you have been dealt.
While I have been looking at my dealt hand, I have been comparing my hand to someone else’s. I have friends that are writers as well, and they post consistently- and I am partly jealous. Someone else reading this could be saying- “I have a husband, three kids with their own schedules, the family dog, my own classes, and dinner that has to get on the table every day. Multiple times a day. Lesson Learned: Take the time you are given. Emphasis on taking the time. Rarely will life make time for you; you have to take the time you are given and make gold out of it. Be the Rumpelstiltskin of your own life and learn to make the most out of what you are given. Here’s the thing. We are each given 24 hours in a day. That is 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. That is 1,440 minutes. That is 86,400 seconds. Never compare. The little you have in your hand is magnified in God’s hand.
I have 2 goals as of this day. Goal #1, To gain a true accountability partner, I am praying and waiting with anticipation and goal #2 to spend the rest of my life writing.
As far as I know, I have one talent or gift you may say; and I dare not liken myself to the servant with one talent who chose to hide his talent. The writing gift I have, I give back to the Father so that it may earn HIM glory; for Him to return one day and say to me ‘Well done my good and faithful servant’

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