Weekly Inspiration

Last night I found myself in a wild game of imaginary stick play with my six-year-old grandson, Charlie. Bored on a walk, he picked up two sticks and invited me to play. Initially the sticks were swords, but soon they became guns and bomb droppers (he is a boy!). They could shoot fire and ice, even! These sticks were doing all these things to fight the bad guys, and with each form of weaponry came a different sound. So, Charlie and I walked through the neighborhood in an imaginary world, making silly sounds and waving sticks. I was on top of the world!

As we lay down for bedtime, Charlie was doodling in his book. He drew an incredible creature and even made it 3-D. Then he handed the book and pencil to me. “It’s your turn, G. Now you draw a creature.” I froze. I was so absolutely intimidated by Charlie’s wild imagination that I could think of nothing more than a smiley face. So, I drew nothing.

How many times do we psyche ourselves out because we think we are incapable or not good enough? How many times do we turn down an opportunity because we’ve never done that before, or because we think someone else can do it better than we can? Just as I looked at that blank page and froze, sometimes we freeze when instead we need to respond with curiosity and exploration and confidence.

God invites us to remember that we have been created in God’s good image to “have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Abundant life comes when we trust God enough to lose our inhibitions and dare to dream about the blank page, the accomplishments we want to realize, goals we have set, or new opportunities in front of us.

Or maybe the abundant life God wants for us is lean in with wild imagination to each new day as its own blank page, to ask God to bless it, and to play until all God’s people say, “Amen!”