Choosing a Word of the Year is always an exciting time for me. That one little word becomes my goal for the next 365 days as I strive to weave its importance into my life. It might be something that is specifically directed towards myself like with purge, something that focuses on our family as a whole like with teach, or even something that is based on others like last year's give.
Along with that excitement though comes a tinge of apprehension. This single word is a reminder of what I need in my life. While there is the thrill of a new challenge, there is also some embarrassment that accompanies it. Just like looking into a mirror shows you all your physical flaws, my word for each year is a reflection of my life. I don't choose this word casually, but instead pray about it for weeks and allow God to show me where He wants me to change.
The word for this year came as no surprise to me.
Play.
play, verb
- to use any exercise for pleasure or recreation
- to do something not as a task or for profit, but for amusement
When it comes to the story of Mary and Martha in the end of Luke chapter 10, I relate to Martha. That drive to work, to accomplish a task, to serve your family--that speaks to me. I want my kids to have a strong work ethic and understand that work comes before play.
But far too often, I let the constant work of caring for a family overshadow the importance of my personal recreation. Managing a home, nurturing a handful of children, and home educating along with church involvements and other responsibilities fill my days. Clutter is a stress trigger for me. If I'm not careful, I am prone to let my duties keep me from truly playing with my children.
When my first couple kids were born, I spent countless hours playing with them daily. Then another was born. We started homeschooling. Days were filled with teaching and training, Make It Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Theory Thursday, Smiles on Fridays. And then another baby. Now that we have 5 children, they each have plenty of playmates to keep them interested.
And I have much to keep me busy. Blogging, my hobby and record-keeping of sorts, has taken a very distant backseat to my other responsibilities. My days are based around serving, not leisure. I tend to justify my lack of playing because my kids are with me nearly every second of every day. They help while I'm cooking, they're playing next to me while I'm folding laundry, they do school with me, they read with me. We eat meals together always. We go on family outings often. They have my attention all day.
But I need to be intentional in playing with them.
Oh, it's not that I never play with them. It's that I need to make it more of a priority. It's finding the balance of determining which chores need to be done now and which can wait 30 minutes so I can play a game with my kids. It's teaching my children that responsibilities are important and work needs to be completed, but that they also need to make time for quality recreation.
We are halfway through this year, and though I am just now finishing up this post that I started many months ago, I have been applying this word to my actions. In fact, I've tried multiple times to type this but stopped because a child asked me to help him build with Lego or play a game.
I've never liked the saying "It will be there tomorrow" referring to dirty dishes in a sink or a pile of laundry on the couch implying that playing with your kids is of utmost importance. Yes, those dishes will still be there--along with many others. God doesn't want us to ignore responsibility. But he also doesn't want us to be "cumbered about much serving" or "troubled about many things."
The last 6 months I've been more intentional in saying yes to playing.
I've been more deliberate to be like Mary, but instead of sitting at the feet of Jesus, I'm sitting on the floor with my kids. I'm taking more time, not for task or profit, but enjoyment and pleasure.
Play. That's my "good part" and my focus this year.
I initiated a challenge in the month of June to play with my kids! You can read all about it and join in the fun of 30 Days of Playing.
But far too often, I let the constant work of caring for a family overshadow the importance of my personal recreation. Managing a home, nurturing a handful of children, and home educating along with church involvements and other responsibilities fill my days. Clutter is a stress trigger for me. If I'm not careful, I am prone to let my duties keep me from truly playing with my children.
When my first couple kids were born, I spent countless hours playing with them daily. Then another was born. We started homeschooling. Days were filled with teaching and training, Make It Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Theory Thursday, Smiles on Fridays. And then another baby. Now that we have 5 children, they each have plenty of playmates to keep them interested.
And I have much to keep me busy. Blogging, my hobby and record-keeping of sorts, has taken a very distant backseat to my other responsibilities. My days are based around serving, not leisure. I tend to justify my lack of playing because my kids are with me nearly every second of every day. They help while I'm cooking, they're playing next to me while I'm folding laundry, they do school with me, they read with me. We eat meals together always. We go on family outings often. They have my attention all day.
But I need to be intentional in playing with them.
Oh, it's not that I never play with them. It's that I need to make it more of a priority. It's finding the balance of determining which chores need to be done now and which can wait 30 minutes so I can play a game with my kids. It's teaching my children that responsibilities are important and work needs to be completed, but that they also need to make time for quality recreation.
We are halfway through this year, and though I am just now finishing up this post that I started many months ago, I have been applying this word to my actions. In fact, I've tried multiple times to type this but stopped because a child asked me to help him build with Lego or play a game.
I've never liked the saying "It will be there tomorrow" referring to dirty dishes in a sink or a pile of laundry on the couch implying that playing with your kids is of utmost importance. Yes, those dishes will still be there--along with many others. God doesn't want us to ignore responsibility. But he also doesn't want us to be "cumbered about much serving" or "troubled about many things."
The last 6 months I've been more intentional in saying yes to playing.
I've been more deliberate to be like Mary, but instead of sitting at the feet of Jesus, I'm sitting on the floor with my kids. I'm taking more time, not for task or profit, but enjoyment and pleasure.
Play. That's my "good part" and my focus this year.
I initiated a challenge in the month of June to play with my kids! You can read all about it and join in the fun of 30 Days of Playing.
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