Have you ever played miniature golf (we call it putt putt) and seen these signs? "Please Allow Faster Players to Play Through"
There are those who are younger and take a few strokes more than others to get that little orange ball in the hole. Then there are those who might be older but still take a bunch of tries to get that ball in the hole. (not naming names :)
If you have little ones, you know what I'm talking about. You pretty much just have to keep your hand waving the entire night so that people behind you will know to go ahead and "play on through"!
Tonight when I saw this picture, and the words of the sign, I did a double take. Yes, it's referring to mini-golf. But it hit me all of a sudden, this little innocent sign holds much truth for the way of the world.
"Please Allow Faster Players to Play Through"
Is it not true? The fastest, the smartest, the most creative, the favored, the talented, the prettiest....let them go ahead, play on through to the top of the proverbial ladder.
Much like in mini-golf, there is no time to wait on those who may take a little longer to "shine".
But what are we missing by pushing the "faster players through"?
We're missing the little girl with clubbed hands who can write her name after weeks and weeks of effort and sweat. And she can write it more beautiful than any kindergardener I know.
We're missing the little boy who has a repaired cleft lip and cleft palate, after years of speech, who can speak now so clearly with just a hint of nasality that makes him have a sound all his own.
We're missing the older girl who was deaf, slow, and lost. After a hearing aid and years of therapy, she is showing signs of huge improvement.
We're missing the little boy with a life threatening heart defect, possibly unrepairable, life expectancy unknown. But he smiles and hugs you so tight around your neck that you feel like you're going to suffocate in love, and he sings "Happy Birthday, Jesus" with all his lungs can muster.
And so we slow down our lives, our mini-golf game, too. And we relish in the accomplishments of those players who are not the "fastest".
Kristi's post below about "what if" is SPOT ON. What if we had not adopted our special needs children? We may play mini-golf a lot faster, yes. But we would have missed out on the blessing of slowing down.
Play on through, faster players! We're going to take our sweet time!
