A day or two ago, Dad and I played chess. It was Dad’s idea.

If you know me, you may or may not know that my expressed stance on chess is a very negative one. This is because 1. I hate doing anything I’m bad at; 2. I hate losing; 3. I am bad at, and thus frequently lose, the game of chess.

You can probably guess what happened. I lost twice, and badly. And with a thoroughly unpleasant attitude the entire time. Sorry Dad — thanks for still wanting to play games with me even after having to put up with that crap over and over again. Turns out I’m not good at seeing a big picture. I can only see one small series of moves at a time — I can only imagine one campaign; one projected outcome. I can’t see the board in its entirety. I can’t holistically comprehend every piece with each of its unique strengths, location, relationship to the game at large, and purpose.

As I was laying in bed later that night worrying about where I’m going to end up in life and whether the next steps that I’m taking are good ones, I asked God what He thought and begged Him (again) to lead me. What I heard was this: “Lauren, I’m better at chess than you are.” I think it’s safe to say that between the two of us, I’ll trust Him to play this board.

-L