Pastor Bob Alderman
Little kids know how to have fun! Buy them an expensive toy and they will laugh
and play with the box. Take them to a
park filled with toys and they will end up playing in the dirt.
Kids are not impressed with money, titles
or prestige; they are impressed with honesty, openness and love.
I believe that adults can learn much from
children.
Children play with anyone who will play
with them. They are
not turned away by skin color, disabilities, clothing brands or
financial status. Kids just want to play
and have fun.
Children are not worried about all of the
rules and regulations grown ups place in their
relationships. Kids know good and bad;
and that is enough. It
is the adults who place unreasonable expectations on each other.
Children laugh out loud
as they run and play; adults are afraid to express any emotions for fear it
will make them look silly or vulnerable.
Kids will run and play until a grown up
makes them stop. Adults stop playing
completely.
Adults have much to learn from
children. We are so concerned about
acting our age, worrying about stuff we have no control over and dealing with
all of the personality conflicts and attitudes we have developed over the years
that we forget how to have fun!
Here are a few recommendations for
"grown ups" to help us live happier lives:
1.
Go outside and
play a game of tag or hide-and-go-seek with your kids or a few other
adults. Run, hide and laugh together.
2.
Grab a coloring
book and a box of crayons and get busy.
Color a person blue and the sky green.
Color outside of the lines and add your own personality to the picture.
3.
Ride a bicycle in
your neighborhood with a few other people.
4.
Play in the
sprinklers and make a mud pie.
5.
Get creative with
paper, pencils, clay, popsicle sticks and glue. Use your imagination and create something
fun.
6.
Watch a kids show
on TV and play along with the games and songs.
Watch for "Blues Clues", laugh with a vegetable and yes, maybe
even sing with Barney.
7.
Read a comic
book.
8.
Play some kids
games like Patti cake, hopscotch, jump rope, Jacks, marbles or Candy Land.
9.
Make up a silly
language and try to talk through cans hooked together with string.
10. Do something that is simply fun with no other purpose
other than laughing with a group of other people.
Adults can learn a lot from children! We can regain some of our youth, lighten up a
little, reduce our stress, get some exercise, build relationships and maybe
find a bright spot of happiness for our lives.
There is a spiritual principle to all of
this; adults tend to become prideful, self centered and hardened by life. Jesus says we must add the simple joy and
humility of a child back into our lives in order to find out what real life is
all about.
Matthew 18:2-3 "Jesus called a small
child over to him and put the child among them. Then he said, "I assure
you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will
never get into the
Jesus wants us to have the worry free and joyFULL life He has already prepared for us. The only pathway to that abundant life is
through Him. Place your faith in Him,
receive the forgiveness and restoration from Him that removes doubt, worry and
frustration and begin to act like a kid again!
Remember
that God loves you! And
so do I.