There's Winning And Then There's Losing

Let's face the truth. It doesn't feel good to lose. Kids have it right; losing sucks.

I remember being in the 6th grade and getting into the Spelling Bee. I was pretty confident in myself because I practiced my spelling words and was a good speller. My sister, Courtney, was also in the Spelling Bee, but I never thought twice about it. I was going to win.

There were 6 of us left and I got the word 'luxury'. Um, this wasn't on my list. I don't remember this word! Not only did I get it wrong and come in 6th, my younger sister beat me and got 2nd place. I remember walking back to my classroom, with tears burning my eyes, nail marks in my palms because I was trying so hard not to be a crybaby. But I was sad. I was disappointed. I was mad. I had lost.

Today, we went to this Christmas in July party put on by a friend of mine and her team. The girls got tickets to enter the many raffles they had for some pretty sweet prizes. Scooters, games, bikes, a hoverboard; they were so excited.

So, fast forward to about 3 PM:

Cool! Scarlet won a Frozen scooter (and believe me, I almost started crying from the look on her face). Awesome! Look at all the games Piper won.

But where is Sammie?

She is at the table, crying into her Daddy's shoulder because she didn't win a prize. Now, granted that both her sisters won something and she didn't, that's a hard pill to swallow. There's that envious vine that creeps 'round your heart, whispering that it should have been you and that it's not fair.

Of course, we, the parents, were pretty embarrassed that our 7 year-old was throwing herself a pity party. Scarlet told Sam that she would share with her, Piper explained that she wouldn't be able to play the games by herself, but did that assuage Sam's bitterness? Kind of, but not really.

It's a learning process. As Samantha gets older, my hope is that she learns the sad fact that not everyone is a winner (despite the ongoing fad of "everyone gets a prize" or participation prizes). Sometimes we lose and sometimes it is a lot. It's okay.

In our weakness, God is stronger. To quote an oldie that I love, "To live your life you've got to lose it and all the losers get a crown. I get down, He lifts me up. Every time I'm down the Lord lifts me up."

I want Samantha to learn that through her weaknesses and her disappointments, that God is there. He will lift her up. She can come to Him as she is, no walls, no facades. It's okay to not be alright. Like I said, a learning process.

So, I'll leave you with this nugget (because I need to do my nails AND get my feet massaged):
Winning is great and losing sucks. There's no getting around that. But ask God to help you through it and you end up winning anyways.