wild cards

When my kids were in high school one of the teaches worked hard to give them a real life experience.

The teacher matched students into “couples.” They were given the opportunity to plan and execute their life. There were broad guidelines, but the students had great opportunity for choice.

They could choose their own jobs. They were allowed to spend their money as they choose, with certain guide lines.

The first rush included a lot of new 4 wheel drive pickups and nice spendy things. And then, just to make it all interesting, the teacher would distribute a random “wild card.”

It might be that the washing machine quit. It might be a job loss. It might be an unplanned pregnancy and on and on.

Some “couples” flourished and had cash savings, some had to go through “bankruptcy.”

But it is that “wild card” idea that fascinates me of late.

Life is full of these, and the cards are often way larger than we would like. A chronic illness, a personal disease, an accident; a friendship that went astray; a marriage that ended; The list goes on and on.

I have a chronically challenged grandson, family members are facing frightening health issues, Miriam has Alzheimer’s, all wild cards.

Some well meaning souls try to give comfort by saying that it is all part of god’s plan. They are amazed at the ferocity of my rebuttal.

But before I get mired in all of this, there are good wild cards too.

Those are easy to forget, I fear.