Tip of My Iceberg

It was a weekend of family birthdays. Celebrating. Cakes. Presents.

Two nights of togetherness pushes the limit of what younger kids can tolerate. Nana’s home can only offer so much entertainment that connects with the heart of a child.

Especially when the adults choose to watch MLS soccer.

Orlando City was on (another disappointing game), and since we’re all die-hard fans, we watched in spite of the whining from the younger crowd.

“This is boring.”

I get boring. When there’s nothing really fun to do. When you know that, no matter what you suggest, the response will be, “I don’t wanna.”

John is brilliant in times of whininess. (He’s dealt with me all these years.) He had some tricks up his sleeve–and a few objects that light up–left over from the summer. He got them out and let the younger ones have at them.

We turned off all the lights (except for the soccer game), and the room became a war zone. A place where pretend light sabers could battle perceived enemies (siblings) with little or no injury.

I got whacked with one of those things, and it stung.

It changed the tenor of the evening. While we watched a dismal soccer game, the three youngest grands were running around the house, brandishing their swords and doing battle. Ryken, the youngest warrior, wanted more lights. More ways to glow. Teagan and Isley were content to attack each other.

It was a whole new perspective on Saturday night fights.

Boredom is a major nemesis of the young, But it can take out adults just as easily if we don’t think about the possibilities. If our focus is what we always default to when we lack imagination–binge watching TV, games on our phones, texting random people, stalking folks on Facebook or other adult ways of getting into trouble–we waste time and never move forward. Never grow or learn.

The kids had it right. There’s something about light that draws us in. When real life is exposed, we can actually understand what we’re choosing to involve ourselves with.

TV and movies know how to communicate when bad things happen. If something dreadful is taking place, it’s preceded by music that sets your nerves on edge.

It usually happens at night.

We live in a broken world full of darkness. Not everything is bad, but there’s enough tough stuff going on that all people are affected by things that hurt. Bad things do happen to good people. Try as we might, we can’t take away the wrong that continues to happen.

There’s a reason Jesus is called the Light of the world.

He came to shine the light on His truth–He is the answer to the problem of evil, the One who would bear the weight of the wrongs of the world so we could be in a right relationship with God.

Light in the darkness.

Like the grands, we’ve got to be willing to put on the Light. Make it a part of our lives by believing that He has forgiven us fully. That His grace is sufficient for the deep needs of our hearts.

That’s the kind of shine I want to have.