Hockey Hooligans....

Now I must begin the review of Friday with some words of experience for my readers. After the amount of traveling we have done, we have learned a few things about life in a hotel. The points may seem, well... obvious, but they must not be taken for granted, so bare with me.

POINT #1
Hotels are VERY different on Mondays- Thursdays vs Friday-Sunday.

Most people do not really realize just how different. It is a Total mood swing. Monday through Thursday, it is fairly quiet, lots of genuine friendly smiles from staff members, lots of business people, generally a lovely place to be . Managers reception is a gift to the guest for staying. Friday through Sunday, is STRESSED OUT. The manager receives NO ONE. Staff have painted exaggerated smiles to hide the horror of the crowds that have arrived. Guests rather than being gracious and thankful for the many efforts of the staff, are griping, whining immature temper tantrum grown up brats. (is this harsh? I think not) Are there exceptions? yes. There are. But the amount of crazy folk that show up at even the nicest hotels always amaze me.

POINT #2
While visiting a hotel on weekends, the average parent thinks and acts as if they were on vacation from their child, let management deal with the kid for a change.

Again is this harsh? No. Kids hanging from railings, clogging and hogging elevators, mouths like truckers, or worse, cannon balling into the hot tub, swinging from ANYTHING in reach, running into people, are all events taking place within the line of said parents vision. Such actions by their offspring produce no response from their legal guardians. These are common place on a weekend in a hotel. REALLY. If confronted by a manager, or even the General Manager of a hotel, the average weekending parent will simply look to their friends and begin laughing hysterically, and walk away. Yes as if they were indeed the children themselves. yelling from one floor to another, from one balcony to another is not uncommon. But do not offer to much grace here, it isn't to reprimand a disobedient out of control child, it is rather to ask so and so to bring up some more beer or something. :) so is life on the weekends. Animal house with children

POINT #3
Life in a hotel beyond two weeks can be reminiscent of life on the Love Boat.

Most rif raf come and go, then there is your stand firm staff, and your regular guests. Remember Chara? Anyway, we for now are regular guests , and yesterday some of the staff confided in me. They are all wonderful people. With families, and friendships, and lives all their own. They confided their fears of what I will from here on out refer to as, the HOCKEY HOOLIGANS.

POINT #4
GROUP WEEKENDERS ARE THE WORST.

To the folks who come as groups on weekends it all seems a dream come true. Friends to visit with, a chance to catch up, knowing some person or other in nearly every room, and floor; many children to play with your children, free breakfast, a swimming pool, a game room, and a big wide open space for socializing. For those who work at the hotel or stay long term at the hotel, it is time to band together, for survival. Hightened security, and staff... Warnings go out, letters to regulars about when would be the best time to get good food before madness strikes, get shoved under your door late at night. Whispered warnings passing in the halls, that all might brace themselves and their families for the tsunami to follow. We all know it too shall pass. It always does pass, sometime around checkout time on Sunday. Praise GOD! :)


This Friday the Hockey Hooligans arrived. Fulfilling all the average expectations of your typical group weekenders, and surpassing them richly. They are truly the animals their evolutionary minded parents want them to be, grunting , screaming, and generally being what ANY of our children would be with out direction, discipline, instructions, and basic training in the love of the Lord.

Such weekends are not the time to gloat about what wonderful children I have in comparison. It is however an wonderful time to Praise God for the salvation He freely offered to us, the amazing work of sanctification that He is doing in and through and to us, as well as our children. For there but by the grace of God, go I. Really, had Jesus not reached in His hand and changed the direction of our lives, those parents might have been fun to hang out with.

In a conversation I had yesterday, the person I spoke with seemed very harsh in judging these parents. It is NOT hard to do, justifiably. When it occurred to me, that they really are fried, they really don't have a CLUE. They laugh at management coming to them, because lets face it. They don't have their children's hearts, they can not by any non abusive means at this point, can not control their children. They have probably used the management as their final authority with their children, as their only threat or recourse. To have the highest authority of management of the hotel come back to them with the problem, seemed laughable. like, "don't you get it, they are always out of control. We don't know what to do, you mean you don't either.... lets just have another beer."

These parents need MORE than to take responsibility, they need more than a harsh word of rebuke, they need our prayers, our compassion. They are blind, they watch Opera and other such persons for hope, for help for Guidance. They don't need Dr. Phil, they just need JESUS. Jesus is our Hope, Jesus heals our blindness, His Holy Spirit promises to be our Guide.

Weekends here are a great time, to remember the grace that He showed to me, and be kind, in Him, to others. A time to rejoice in the mightiness of God, a time to pray for the nation, a time to love the Lord my God, with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. For this one weekend these hooligans and their mommies and daddies are my neighbors. Lord help me to love them.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. It is very easy in this life to stick with people who think like you, sort of parent like you, school like you, live a bit like you. Yet for this short season, the Lord has sought to place us where we are not with the like minded. He has called us to love them anyway .Join with me in praying for the Lost families of our nation, our world. If these are the future leaders of our nation, PRAY like you have NEVER prayed before.

you are loved