Spotter! 🎳🍕

“It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.” — 3 John 1:3

Back in my late teens, I worked at a bowling alley. On Friday and Saturday nights, we had “Moonlight Bowling.”

At midnight, things got interesting.

We’d dim the lights and slip one bright red pin into the rack. If that pin landed in the head position—and the bowler threw a strike—they won a free pizza.

Simple. Rare. Electric.

My job? I was the spotter.

When that colored pin showed up front and center, the bowler would yell, “SPOTTER!” as if their life depended on it. And I’d lock in—eyes on the lane—giving them the thumbs up and watching to see if they could deliver.

You could feel the whole place lean in. Pins rattling. Neon glowing. That unmistakable bowling alley “aroma” hanging in the air. 😂 Most frames were just… normal.

But every now and then? Something special.

Fast forward a few years (okay… a few decades 😄), and I found myself reading Third Epistle of John 3 John.

John is writing to a man named Gaius, and he’s basically doing the same thing we used to do at the bowling alley.

He’s calling it out: “That’s it. That’s the life.”

Gaius was opening his home. Supporting traveling teachers. Living generously and faithfully behind the scenes.

Nothing flashy. But when you see it—you know.

It’s a strike.

What if we became that kind of community? The kind that notices the “colored pin” moments in each other’s lives:

• quiet faithfulness
• open homes
• generous hearts
• steady obedience

And instead of letting it pass, we call it out:

“SPOTTER!”

Not to draw attention to people—but to celebrate what Jesus is doing as we apprentice under Him. Because most of life looks like a regular frame.

Until it doesn’t. And maybe that’s the point.

Most of the Kingdom is built in ordinary moments that don’t seem dramatic at the time. A meal shared. A prayer offered. A door opened. A quiet act of obedience that almost no one notices.

But heaven notices.

Because Jesus’ resurrection is the down payment of new creation, we can live with resilient hope—even in the face of suffering or loss—knowing that nothing done in love is wasted. It will somehow be woven into God’s final renewal.

Every frame of our lives has eternal significance.

Run the Play: Like a Moonlight Bowling spotter, let’s look for what God is doing in our midst—and give one another a thumbs up. Soli Deo Gloria.

Finding Our Place in the Story

Who in your life might need someone to notice, name, and encourage their quiet faithfulness right now?