Play For All Your Life

Last night as I drove through neighborhoods of brightly lit Christmas displays my insides leapt with excitement, as I took in the eye popping light displays. The Christmas season stirs my senses with smells, sights and tastes, like every child I’m taken into the magical world of play that the holidays so aptly invites.

In last week’s blog, I discussed Joy and the invitation before us; this week I want to go a step further and talk about Play!

Clinical Researcher, Medical Doctor, and Psychiatrist, Stuart Brown, has spent a career working with Fortune 500 companies on how to incorporate play into business. In his book, Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul, Brown tells us that years of academic and clinical research has taught us that the power of play, energizes, enlivens, eases burdens, renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.

Being a person who thrives on creativity, enjoys the possibilities, and is all about investing in a play filled life, I am thrilled that the medical community concurs with my own findings! “Neuroscientists, developmental biologists, psychologists, social scientists, and researchers from every point of the scientific compass now know that play is a profound biological process…Play lies at the core of creativity and innovation.” Brown continues to explain that, “We are built to play and build through play.”

So let me ask you, how seriously do you take play? Are you as intentional about your play as you are your work? Do you look at your calendar every month and every week and make sure that you’ve scheduled time for play? If you don’t most likely your play ration is down. If you aren’t intentional about creatively planning time to play, you are robbing your life of an important element. You may have surrendered your youth way before it’s time.

I intend to play long and hard in this life, watch my energy and creativity fly off the charts, and whoop it up big, while enjoying a grand ole time. During this Christmas season, why not join the ranks of the highly intelligent researchers who advise us to play for all our life and reap the benefits of what play will do for you.

Always, remember: Follow your joy!

Joyfully, Joyfully

Today as I was reflecting on the holiday season my favorite subject was brought to mind, JOY! As I sat imagining young Mary in a manger giving birth to her first born son, Jesus, I was reminded of the birth of my own first born son Gabriel, not in a manger, but in my bed at home. Remembering the influx of emotion I experienced that day as a new mother, takes me back to the indescribable, exceedingly, great joy the birth of my son brought to me.

My own sense of joy was just the beginning, as Gabriel’s first breath began a ripple effect moving outward that today continues to touch others who are privileged to be a part of his life.

It could be said that the wise follow their joy! In Psalm 16:11, King David reminds us, “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

At Christ’s birth an angel of the Lord appeared to a small band of shepherds who were in a nearby field watching their sheep. The angel said,

"I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10

Life and joy are meant to go hand and hand and yet how often do we stray for the simplicity of joy. St. Ignatius was known for the daily practice of contemplating what brought him joy during the day and what robbed him of joy.

From the first moment of life we are to breathe in the great joy that is for all the people and it should never stop! If you have wondered away from the joy in your life, stop right now and reflect on the great joy that you're invited to partake in, “a great joy for all the people.”

Beach Party Bingo

Recently my husband Mark was telling me about a great analogy he gleaned from the classic 1963 movie Beach Party, with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, the first of seven Beach Party films.

In the movie an Anthropologist professor, played by Robert Cummings was at work secretly observing the wild mating rituals of the Southern California teenagers that hung out on the beach and used odd surfing jargon. Wanting to fit in amongst them, he decided to scientifically teach himself to surf. In true intellectual style the professor worked to calculate the exact mathematical formula for surfing, rather than recognizing the holistic approach of the surf culture's heartfelt youth. Naturally his attempt failed, forcing him back to the drawing board to continue his effort to break into the relational interchange that existed amidst the surfers.

Mark and I were noting that surfing like many other things in life, is not something you can arrive at in your head. It is something that you must feel, as you connect your body with the movement of the waves. It’s something you must enter into, experience and even receive in the struggle to balance oneself.

How often do we struggle with this and try to bring our “intellectual stuff” to the table, when in actuality all we can do is open ourselves up to learn, experience and receive?

Paul explains this aspect of the life of faith, saying,

“…it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.” (MSG)

A relationship with the Son of God is not an intellectual pursuit based on anything we can bring Him. It is much more similar to a beach party where we throw ourselves into the waves, let our hearts feel the rhythm, and receive, receive all that He has done for us. Who wants a relationship built upon rote intellectualism, verses passionate interaction and love? I don’t! Do you? I believe we can accurately say, neither does He!

Inner Road Blocks

How many of us have invisible barriers in our lives that hold us back from the very things we want to access, yet don’t recognize? Did you know that your limiting beliefs act as a roadblock that keeps you back and separates you from the life you want?

When I read the words of Bruce D Schneider in Energy Leadership, I experienced an immediate shift in my thinking, as I recognized how my beliefs have effected my perception. Schneider wrote,

“Stress isn’t something that happens to someone. Its something someone feels about what’s happening. Your capacity to deal with any outer circumstance is based on your inner perception.”

Wow, that means instead of saying, as I often have, “That stressed me out!” I am actually responsible for making chooses about how I react to situations, and the action I need to take to alter my beliefs, instead of surrendering my peace and becoming a victim to stress.

The Apostle Peter tells us. “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence.” 2 Peter 1:13

If we have everything we need pertaining to life, why would we want to live shy of the whole piñata? Yet daily I discover areas where I am living way below the “everything” marker available to me.

I don’t know about you, but I have decided to adjust my limiting beliefs that keep me from the “everything” God intends for my life. Since I am the one responsible for the way I process my thinking, I no longer choose to be a victim to stress. Instead of processing life from lack, I choose to recognize that I have “everything pertaining to life!”

Take-off Aborted

A few weeks ago on a return flight home from New Jersey, as the plane was poised for take off; the engines rammed, reverberating with the sound of speed, the pilot slammed on the breaks just before lift off. Suddenly we were all jolted back in our seats and wondering what was going on. The pilot immediately spoke over the loud speaker informing us that one of the engines was not working correctly, so he had to abort the take off. He told us that he was apprehending a new aircraft that would take us safely to our destinations.

Have you ever experienced all of the momentum for take off, clear visibility, the horizon before you, until suddenly life throws a curve ball and aborts your destination? Thankfully I surely have, numerous times in fact. Why do I say “thankfully”?

The blueprint for our lives often seems clear before us, with highlighted route, and outlined strategy, yet we can’t see all the things up a head in the road before us. Sometimes through the wisdom of God we experience an adjustment that halts our take off and we remain temporarily stranded on what may seem to us the ground of impossibility.

About a week after our take off drama that left us briefly delayed in New Jersey before being issued a new aircraft and reengaging in a successful takeoff, I had an interesting dream. The Lord often speaks to me through my dreams and through life experiences. After the delayed take off I sensed that there was a life application lesson that the Lord was going to download and sure enough He did through my dream.

In my dream He spoke to me about a season in my life when I had been delayed from take off. In wisdom He stressed the reason for this being that the vehicle wasn’t equipped with what I needed to make a successful assent and ultimate arrival to my destination. If I had taken off with insufficient equipment on board there would have been significant problems, maybe even casualties, as the vehicle wasn’t sufficient to carry me once air bound.

In the moment delays are frustrating and inconvenient, yet they are often a gift in disguise. If our pilot had not wisely heeded the warning on the instrument panel we could have been in serious trouble. Upon arrival as we deplaned, I gratefully thanked the pilot for getting us to our destination safely. I wasn’t bothered by the delay, rather thankful for his wisdom that averted a premature taken off that could have been catastrophic.

The Lord reassured me in the dream that although I had been delayed, my vehicle was now equipped and takeoff was eminent. When we follow the pilot’s guidance we will arrive safely to our destination. Our pilot diligently looks out for our well being to make sure we are equipped for success. If you are being grounded while being equipped for success, rest in the ultimate wisdom of your pilot.

Vein of Gold

Over the last year my dreams at night have morphed into what feels like a personal counseling session, or forum with heaven, as if I am hooked up to wires that feed me information.It’s quite interesting to wake up knowing something that I didn’t know before I slept, or acquire insight on a situation that eluded me the day before. It’s magnificently helpful for a slow learner!

A few nights ago the topic highlighted in my dream was the fact that:

“By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of His divine being...” Romans 1:20 MSGI

n my subconscious while sleeping I heard the phrase, “Vein of gold running throughout the earth.” As I slept the notion prospectors discovered long ago fueling California’s Gold Rush, was brought to my attention: there are pockets of gold layered throughout the earth.

However, the insight the Lord illuminated was the idea that from His vantage point, we are the vein of gold that runs throughout the earth.As I slept my spirit reverberated with excitement, as we shared several of the many metaphors woven into the creation of His incredible Universe. The very things that, "By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created" we can perceive great insight.

As I slept God and I reveled over the majesty of the moon, which He set in the sky amidst the backdrop of darkness, to radiate light. What an exacting picture of the glorious light we are called to radiate amidst a darkened world!

Stop and ponder the indescribable majesty tucked into pockets of your world. As you awake to start the day with frost on your windshield and you’re usually invisible breath bursting from your lips, take note that your life is screaming, “I am alive, because a majestic vein of gold runs through my being, making me a vein of glorious God-life in the earth.” Recognize the wonder and then decide how you will intentionally reflect this vein of glory that you carry.

Hidden Mysteries

Do you remember playing hide-and-seek as a kid? I remember the thrill of searching out secret places to hide, or uncovering an opponent well hidden amongst familiar surroundings. Because I love the thrill of adventure and discovery, I’m ever looking past my familiar environment for things undiscovered, remaining hidden to my understanding. I just love mystery!

My husband Mark and I were recently discussing the importance of intentionally exposing oneself to new and unfamiliar experiences. We believe it’s important to regularly encounter different environments outside of our own comfort zone. For any of us there is a vast realm of things outside our own personal scope of exposure that could broaden our world as we know it.

The whole issue of looking for something that you know not of can be perplexing. Clearly there is a magnitude of knowledge and experience that is off the chart and would easily be in our personal realm of the “unknown." With that in mind if we aren’t deliberately looking for the unfamiliar we are most surely going to miss what could be right in front of our eyes.

Jesus said to His disciples, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” (Luke 8:10)

We don’t want to miss this important point. We are those who have been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom! So how do we become a person who can see what is mysteriously hidden? Don’t worry the disciples weren’t to clear about this either.

And take a look at what Paul said,“This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities. And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along.” (Ephesians 3:7 MSG)

To become those that steward the mysteries of God I believe the best place to start is to ask.

Ask! -“…ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9)

And then Proclaim…Proclaim it out loud!-"It has been granted to me 'to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God' and 'My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along.” (Ephesians 3:9)

Now that’s good stuff! And that’s why I love a good adventure and the search for hidden mysteries!