Keysha LaNaye, around 1979-1980
Original post: 02/2018
Revised: 02/2026
What exactly is The Glad Game?
This is my evolving, digital scrapbook of live events that I have attended – willingly and unwillingly.
It’s a journey of where I paid to park, stood in line, bought concessions AND a t-shirt, found my seat…and everything else that followed.
Most will also include photos.
A collection of my stories is a humbling process. However, I will take humility over pride any day.
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18
I did fall.
Several times.
Pollyanna fell.
She was paralyzed.
But she changed a whole town in the process.
Her dad invented The Glad Game. After she became an orphan, she kept finding things to be glad about, and she shared it with everyone around her. Even the mean people.
Although Pollyanna is a fictional book and a movie, the concept of a glad game is…charming.
Some call it naive, but I like to think of it like this:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:4-8 (NASB, NIV)
I don’t always believe this.
In fact, I battle a darkness every single day that tries to convince me otherwise.
I don’t live in The Glad Town or even in a glad house, but the Word of God tells me it doesn’t have to be that way.
This Pollyanna girl has survived abandonment, physical and emotional abuse, betrayal, job loss, excruciating fear and anxiety, a few life-threatening health issues, and an actual Jezebel chasing after me.
In the last eight years, I have faced the death of my younger brother, grandfather, mother and grandmother, a divorce, and then moving to another state to start over from an unknown place…physically, emotionally and spiritually.
I have previously traveled to The Upside Down level of depression and have been tempted to just stay there.
But, God…
The Glad Game chronicles are also here so others might find common ground, healing, comfort, and even humor in the evidence God is leaving in my life.
I also write as therapy for myself…to take the overflowing file cabinets of memories, or things on which I should not dwell, and leave them here, so I can walk away with a clear mind.
This is often live coverage with no retakes, filters or proofreading, of what it means to try and walk the walk of following Christ – all while trying to control my speech, maintain faith, and manage my naturally curly hair.
I love music, movies, photography, and my Bible, so those are frequent topics.
I can write in times of frustration, fear, sadness, joy, and wonder, but mostly for my two daughters, who just might read this one day.
My prayer is that someone would see in these words what the Lord has taught and revealed to me over the last 50 years, even though it clearly requires a double scoop of my own humility.
May we all grow together in wisdom, grace and truth, in order to make disciples and spread the gospel to the ends of the earth…
For the Kingdom!
And for Narnia!
-Keysha
Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel. Ephesians 6:19
© Keysha Thomaston and The Glad Game, 1996-2020, 2021-2026. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Keysha Thomaston, Keysha Simpson and The Glad Game with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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