Whimsical Love Day 3
There's just something about a child's imagination that captivates you. I have been blessed to nanny two sweet girls for the third summer in a row. One of my favorite things is when I come in the house of a morning and can hear imagination flowing from the other side of the house. It's impossible not to smile and love every second of it. At all times she is either playing Barbies, dolls, ponies, dress-up, or house. It always brings me back to my childhood. That was my life. But instead of ponies, I would somehow make my three older brothers sit down for a tea party. I'm still not sure how that one happened, but I do have a picture of it somewhere to prove it!
Sometimes I would even dress up my cats and bring them to the tea party (So that's why Ernest ended up becoming a 22 lb recluse........).
Every time I played house my name would be Laura, and I would not answer when my mom called for Shae. I simply whispered in her ear that my name was not Shae, it was Laura. After awhile she would see I was playing house and would automatically call me Laura. I was a different person and in a different place when my imagination was flowing. You see, something happens when your imagination is going. You enter a place of nonstop adventures and happiness. Whether you are being chased by a dinosaur, playing the role of a mom with ten babies (holy cow), running away from the bad guys (everyone in sight) and pretending to be a spy, or whatever it is, adventure is everywhere. I'm sure I was probably one of those kids who had more fun with the boxes. After all, you could build massive castles with them!
Claire, the little girl I nanny was playing house that day and asked me to play house with her. Why not? So she gave a doll to me and she picked up a doll for herself. She continued to play and picked up a Precious Moments Bible. She took it to the other side of the room and said, "Ok, I am going to study Jesus." I couldn't stop reflecting on how beautiful that phrase was. Sometimes it's a child that can put things in a more beautiful and innocent way. Not that this is bad, but we often call it a Bible study or a group study or something but there was something about studying Jesus. Her childlike faith and innocence challenged me. How beautiful would it be if we simply studied Jesus? And not only studied Him, but obeyed Him?
As I was playing house, I began thinking, why did God create imagination? What is its purpose?
In Genesis 1, God created animals, humans, plants, the atmosphere, and more. I don't know about you but that takes A LOT of imagination. I can just imagine the Creator getting ideas for animals and having a childlike excitement as He chooses where each one will live, what they will look like, what kind of fur they will have, and what kind of body they would have. Then, I imagine Him getting excited as He gets to decide what the very first humans would look like. I imagine a glow in His eyes as He decides what kind of hair they will have, what their body shape would be, what their eye colors would be, what their skin tone would be, and what their personality would be. You know He had to have so much fun with this. After all, God is the king of imagination!!!
We are made in God's image and imagination is without a doubt a character trait of the Creator. When you think about it, everything begins with imagination. Whether that's a game kids make up, any kind of appliance, the design of your house, and the list goes on and on. Although the Lord blessed children with an extra dose of imagination, everyone has some (some more that others!). As an artist, I can relate to this in a cool way. I love having an idea for a new project, whether that's a mosaic, painting, pottery piece, or a sculpture and getting to see that idea become a masterpiece and being able to call it good.
When imagination and excitement collide, barriers are knocked down and it is easier to pursue the Lord's plans. When I get excited about the Lord's imagination for my life and the plans He has for me, it's almost impossible to hold back from following Him 100%. After all, who has a better imagination for my life?
Did you know imagination can even be a form of worship? If the Lord has made imagination and has even used it, why can't it be another form of worship? Someone mentioned that to me one time and I remember thinking about it. Once I thought about it, worship in church became alive. I was able to think about the lyrics in a new and beautiful way. One of my favorite songs says "I'm running to your arms, I'm running to your arms, the riches of your love will always be enough. Nothing compares to your embrace." I love this song because it enables me to use my imagination. I picture myself running to my king as fast as I can with outstretched arms, then embracing arms that are way bigger than I am. The picture He puts in my head while singing that song is one that sticks with me. When you think about it, faith requires imagination. 2 Corinthians 4: 18 says, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal." Hebrews 11 speaks of many people who showed great faith (or imagination) who followed the Lord's plans even when they could not see them. After all, Hebrews 11 starts off saying, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Oh the beautiful gift of imagination!!
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