You're Such a Child!

Did you celebrate "Eat Crackers and Try to Whistle Day"? (Who comes up with these celebrations?!) How long has it been since you ate crackers and tried to whistle, sat on a balloon until it popped, or buried yourself in a pile of leaves? What other silly things did you do as a child?

Did you lie in the grass and imagine a story among the clouds?

Spin around until you stumbled to the ground in dizziness?

Stand in front of the mirror and make funny faces?

What goofy thing did you thoroughly enjoy as a child but are much too mature to try now? Or perhaps you've been a grownup for so long that you can hardly remember any moments of silliness.

As children, we throw ourselves into things wholeheartedly. Growing up on a farm in Illinois, I was mesmerized watching corn be devoured by the combine and poured into wagons. I loved to roll in the snow. When we lost electricity in an ice storm, I played jacks by flashlight. I usually surrendered to whatever I was doing with complete commitment.

There's something about the complete commitment of children. A child will throw her arms around your neck and "squeeze the stuffing out." She laughs from her core. Her face intensely reflects her emotion...sad, mad, or happy.

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” (Matthew 19:14, NLT) And yet Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:11, "When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things."

When we become adults, we put away our childish ways. But we need to remain childlike in our faith. We set aside temper tantrums, pouting and self-centeredness (or at least try to set them aside), but we keep our complete surrounder to the enjoyment of simply pleasures.

God wants you to take your faith seriously, but he also wants you to enjoy his creation and your relationship with him. Being grown up doesn't mean knowing everything. It means knowing you don't know everything and knowing God does. Being childlike doesn't mean excusing immaturity. It means having enough faith to completely abandon your self to God.

So...Lie in the grass and imagine a story among the clouds.

God created the clouds and your creativity.

Spin around until you stumble to the ground in dizziness.

God knows just where you are when the world seems to be spinning.

Stand in front of the mirror and make funny faces.

God made your face and gave you expressions.

O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way. - Luke 10:21

Simple Joy

It was a thin ice ring of root beer that recently thrilled me. I was enjoying a fresh diet root beer at Fitz's restaurant and began twirling the straw around the inside wall of the ice cold mug when I discovered my straw wouldn't quite reach the bottom of the mug. As I firmly pushed my straw to the bottom, a small ice ring broke away and floated to the top. Wow! The mug was chilled to just the right temperature and the root beer pour in just the right way to form a small ring of root beer ice.

I was thrilled. It was as if I'd hit a jackpot. I tried to lift the ice ring out of the mug with my straw, but it kept slipping at the last second. And it was melting with each try. I had to take quick action.

So I stuck my finger and thumb info my root beer (yes, my hands were clean...and besides, it's just my own germs, right?), and I rescued the drowning ice ring, tossed it into my mouth and enjoyed the sweetness as it quickly melted on my tongue. It was delicious ...and apparently my joy was evident, because when I looked at my husband, he was smiling along with me.

Before you convict me of irrational and inappropriate behavior in a restaurant, play the tapes of your own life.

When was the last time you enjoyed something with such completeness?

Have you watched a child forcefully jump into a puddle with both feet? Leap into the air toward a parent or grandparent with complete trust the person would catch her? Grasp a glass of chocolate milk with both hands and tip it back for a long while, waiting for each previous drop to slide into her mouth?

You've had moments like that, too. Childlike abandonment...complete enjoyment of something that might seem to others to be frivoulous or insignificant. But if it was truly insignificant, you wouldn't enjoy it so much.

What are some of your simple joys?

Look for them. God understands our lives include many struggles. Simple joys are small, unexpected, inexpensive surprises he gives us. He enjoys giving us gifts of simple joys. And I think he thrills at the simple joys we give him as well.

So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 8:15 (NLT)