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<\/a>However, we were far from family. So on many occasions, we would load up the car and head to family gatherings in Ohio. These were long trips\u2026twelve hours in the car without the modern conveniences of dvd players, ipods, or any other electronic devices to pass the time. Our entertainment was old-fashioned games to amuse ourselves.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Perhaps you know the alphabet games. There are a couple versions of this game. Either finding the letters of the alphabet on signage, vehicles or license plates or finding a person, place or thing that begins with the letter of the alphabet. The first person who finished the alphabet was the winner.<\/p>\n
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Of course there were certain letters of the alphabet that were more difficult to find. Q and Z were especially difficult with the second version of this game. But as we grew older and learned more words, it became easier.<\/p>\n
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Now I don\u2019t know how many quagmires you may have passed in your lifetime, but there was one along a stretch of the New York State Thruway that we were always thrilled to see if we were playing this game. Within the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge was the Montezuma Swamp. We used it as \u201cquagmire\u201d in our alphabet game every time.<\/p>\n
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I can\u2019t help but think we encounter a similar swampy, marshy, quagmirey feeling within our spiritual lives when we fall into temptation and sin. Sometimes we feel as if we are being swallowed up by guilt and despair. We feel stagnant, foul-smelling and just plain dirty by the results of sin.<\/p>\n
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