When you were a kids, playing made total sense. Friends play together. When you care about someone, you play games, laugh, enjoy yourself. Then, you grew up. Life hit you full in the face. Play was over. Or at least,the pure enjoyment ended.
We still need the release and relaxation play provides. We need it in our chaotic lives but more importantly we need it in our homes. Think of who your closest friends are. Now recall moments you've shared laughter and fun and play. Those times provide open doors for sharing who we really are. I've often thought those who play together can really pray together. There is something about sharing joy that makes us more willing to open up about serious things.
In college, I was often involved in school theatrical performances. I remember one show where the topic was extremely serious. We longed to perform it well. Our director helped us to bond together in this goal by enabling us to get totally silly at certain times. People played goofy practical jokes. Laughter broke out at random times. The joy of play bonded us like nothing else.
The same is true in regular life. In our marriages and families, we need to rediscover the power of play. It opens us to the joy God has in store. Joy is so important that it is mentioned within scripture 242 times. Proverbs 17:22 says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."
With our children and our spouses, we seek true connections that go beyond the moment. If they are to occur, effort must be made. Serious talks have a purpose, but so does serious fun. Let's lighten up a bit every now and again. If we discover the things that make our spouse or children giggle and use them wisely, we'll be building a depth to our relationships which tough times cannot break apart.
How often do our children, when they are young, approach us with the question, "Mommy, will you play with me?" What they are really asking is, "Do you care about what I care about?" Kids care about play.
I think of it like our lives are one big checking account....okay, stick with me here, it gets better...each time I make the effort to play with my kids or laugh with my husband, I'm making a deposit. When discipline or serious discussion is required, I'm writing the check. For the checking account to not get over drawn and thus produce excess stress within our household, the deposits should exceed the withdrawals. When I feel tension rising within the house, I think about that check book. Have I made enough deposits lately?
We focus on so many serious things day and day out, it's easy to forget the power of play in our lives. Let's remember to keep making deposits.
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