Freedom to Imagine

I am constantly amazed at how creative children can be with little structure and few supplies. My one-year-old now loves playing with small toy animals and vehicles, but today, even a razor cap became a “car” for him to push around on the bathtub edge (don’t worry – Dad had possession of the razor!!).

And while the kids all enjoy the toy barn at the library, they really have quite a good time without one at home. Ethan has figured out how to balance plastic horses on a box’s edge, and Josiah creates “zoos” every chance he gets. He groups his animals by types and puts each kind in a special spot (under a chair, on top of a box).

When they run around outside, they also need very few toys. They’ve got a slide and some trikes, but mostly they catch bugs, play in puddles, watch the cows, run down our hill, and play with their few toys. They can make any type of string into a leash for a stuffed animal, and turn any stick into a sword, hobby-horse or a shovel to collect worms. Oh that I were so creative!

I’m thankful that God made humans in his image. The kids and I have been talking a lot about animals lately as we’ve seen quite a few in the past few weeks: fox, turtle, possum, woodchuck, caterpillar, grasshopper. We talk about the distinction between mammals and other types. Naomi asked the other day if we are animals, and I had the joy of telling her “yes” in the scientific definition, but that we are “different” because of God’s grace. He made us creative, emotional, communal, intelligent, and communicative, and we are set apart from all other beings!

Thank you, Lord, for children who remind me of you in so many ways.