It seemed like a good idea at the time. A flattened cardboard box, a set of stairs…what could go wrong? We terribly misjudged the speed of our contraption and forgot completely about the lack of stopping power. So after our daughter, Ella, went careening into the wall at the bottom of the stairs, and making sure her laughter wasn’t actually crying, my first thought was: “I’m gonna need to fix that drywall”…
Then there was teaching her to drive the Jeep (a stick shift) in the nice grassy pasture by the house. After a while, she picked it up rather nicely! But we tore up every blade of grass within reach, leaving behind a muddy mess for months and possibly a little transmission work.
Or the Slip ‘n Slide when the kids were little, what a joy to flow nasty well water over a long strip of plastic and take off! All day long, kids were just running, sliding, and laughing with some minor bleeding. Until, of course, I realized I just created an airstrip of mud and dead grass across the middle of my lawn for the rest of the summer.
And yes, Mom, hitting golf balls into the closet to practice my swing is a perfectly good idea. The clothes take most of the impact anyway.
Memories!
I guess I have always leaned a little more towards making the memory versus protecting the asset. Don’t get me wrong, I have kicked myself many times after I realized I didn’t quite think things through, or allowed my playfulness to cause a rather costly repair. With that said, what’s the point of the grass if we can’t use it for making great memories?
"Once again old men and women will walk Jerusalem's streets with their canes and will sit together in the city squares. And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls at play." (Zechariah 8:4-5)
In the book of Zechariah, God promises to restore His people to a place where they will be hanging out with each other and playing. What’s the point of all the work and suffering if it doesn’t lead to a little play?
Don’t be so serious.
You work hard for what you have, go and enjoy it.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Try not to live in a museum where nothing can be touched. Put play over palace, laughter over loneliness, and memories over merchandise. Try not to burn the house down along the way, but it’s okay to spark a little fire every now and then.
What’s the point of the grass anyway?