Hubbie and I have enjoyed board game competition for all our married life and over the years we've established a most pleasurable routine. Name it, we've probably played it. The last decade or so has been occupied with our daily dose of Skip-Boİ, Tile Rummyİ and a game we learned from our Swiss friends back in 1990. The rivalry is intense and it's been a great source both of enthusiasm and during some tough times, a great diffuser of all sorts of emotions. We've become pretty good at reading each other's mind when it comes to "the next move" and although we are committed to playing fair, there are times when inadvertent mistakes or bold moves come perilously close to cheating. This evening produced a classic.

For those of you who don't play Skip-Bo, a stack of numbered cards sits in front of each person, waiting to be played, one at a time. As the game progresses, a growing stack of discarded cards is shuffled regularly. This evening I was "whupping" Hubbie but good when suddenly I noted his pile of cards had been absorbed into the shuffle pile. Game over. I couldn't claim victory. It was an honest error and after a good laugh we started another round.

That incident got me thinking about life: wouldn't it be great if after every flub we make we could just pick up new cards and begin anew? Imagine being able to recall every unkind word? Think about the thrill of regaining a lost opportunity? Picture yourself undoing the mess that was made of special relationships?

God's grace doesn't absolve us of responsibility but it offers us an unending "second chance".

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17