December 28 – “Child’s play – really”

It's fascinating how play can be so different from child to child. All I remember wanting to do when I was a kid is play baseball, "study" baseball cards, or engage in some form of activity that combined the two.  It was OK to do some of the other games we invented and adapted, like "Hope I Don't Meet the Ghost Tonight" (a combination of hide and seek and tag), or "Kick the Can" (A strategy game where one person protected the old tin can that was sitting on a rock from everybody else who tried to kick it away with getting tagged first), or "First One Under" (A race.  The first one to get under the light pole at the end of the street got to pick the game we played.  I don't remember ever winning that one).   I've been watching my grandkids.  Of course I've been watching them.  What better entertainment is there?  They each have a style of play that meets their needs and enhances creativity.    Jachin is an avid reader and has actually seen the Star Wars movies.  His play is somewhat more realistic, at least from a science fiction point of view.  He is big on following the rules, unless of course it is necessary to change the rules so that he can win.  And he will win.  His plots are full and ever-expanding and very much include the bid picture of the universe he has created.   Micah is more mellow than his older brother – up to a point.  He will allow his characters (which are just as likely to be from Toy Story or Spiderman as Star Wars) to be involved in Jachin's plot until he realizes that once again the older brother is going to come up with some unknown twist of fate that dooms his character.  Then he is just as happy to disappear into his own world with less rules and complications.  He will be back, though, because he really does prefer being with someone else.   Zak likes to develop intricate scenarios using legos or action figures.  His plots invariably involve some kind of super power.  They also often require the input of his Dad.  Josh sometime begins a storyline and Zak takes it and runs with it.  He also is quick to explain the rules when an infraction occurs.  His plots are different from Jachin's.  He can jump from one scene to the next and not have to have a transition event to explain it.  And he also expects to win.   Caleb is all about action.  He wants his whole body involved in the action, rather than just small characters that he controls.  He's most like I remember being.  He wants to jump and be thrown into the air and turn flips and roll around on the floor.  He can enter into Zak's world, but more often as a character himself rather than as a controller of a character.  For example, he makes a great Godzilla in the world of tiny humans.   And of course Cailyn is different from them all.  She is all about nurturing.  She always wants to have a "baby" in her arms.  She has to see that the baby is covered and properly tucked in.  She recently discovered those little miracle baby bottles that have milk in them, and when you put them in the baby's mouth and turn it upside down, the milk disappears.  She has already developed her own personal style of flirting that she tries out on DadDad, mainly because it always works on him.  She has the beginnings of "the look" that every female on the planet has – that turn of the head, or sideways glance or toss of the hair or that extra second or two when those big dark eyes hold you gaze in their spell.  Watch out for this one in the future, all you guys out there.  You might want to watch out for her Daddy as well.  He says she can't date until she's 30.   And that leaves the newest addition, Josiah.  I guess the jury is still out on him, but Christina did mention that he has figured out how to follow his older brothers all over the house.  And he's not even on hands and knees.  He scoots along using his right arm and his left leg.  And his speed is improving daily.  With command of a stealth behavior like that, who needs the conventional hands and knees posture, anyway?   Isaiah 11:1-9 says, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.  The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord — and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.  He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.  He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.  Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.  The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.  The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.  The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.  They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."   Father, it sounds like to understand heaven we need to understand children.  Teach us to play.  Amen.