My Parents Play Nerf with Me

One of Sam's friends came over today, and after snack they asked if I would play Nerf War with them.

You guys, I have two life hacks that are my absolute favourite.  (The first one is The Sacrificial Chip: tossing a naked chip on top of a pan full of loaded nachos, so it can burn and alert your nose that the nachos are ready without ruining the whole panful of deliciousness. Yum.)  The second is filling up my kids' hearts by putting aside my busy-ness and playing like a crazy 7-year-old.

When we first moved here, I noticed a shift in Sam. He was missing his friends, especially his little neighbour buddy who used to come over to play almost every day. He just seemed a little withdrawn, a little lost inside himself.  He wasn't really interested in our stroller-paced walks to the park, or drawing with Vava, or in building Lego by himself.

So Patrick ordered a huge box of Nerf bullets and we told Sam it was game on. (Our house rule is no shooting anyone unless they have a gun, so the little kids were safe.)  We ran upstairs and down, hid in corners and under tables and grabbed pillows for shields.  We yelled and laughed, shot and were shot, and played ourselves out all over the house. And when it was over, Sam's eyes were glowing and his heart was filled.  Yeah - what that homesick little boy needed wasn't anything expensive or difficult to find - he wanted to be played with.  We needed to speak love to Sam by playing the things he loves with him - not just letting him enjoy them alone.  And it was amazing.

 And when he finally made friends and invited a buddy over to our house, they were making plans for spending their time. And I heard him say, "my parents play Nerf with me."

And I held my breath because I thought they might think that wasn't so cool - parents, after all.  But his friend's eyes lit up and he said, "do you think they will play with us?"

And you guys, every single kid who comes over has the same reaction.  They LOVE it. They get to be a team, they get to battle grown-ups, and never want it to end.  For me, too, even though my aim stinks and I get hit way more than I hit - I love it.  It's just fun.  They love being played with at their level - not being sent off to play together, which is fine, but what they truly delight in is when I put down my chores and enjoy doing their fun stuff along with them.

And I can hear that same proud delight in the gospel of John, when he introduces Jesus: "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish." (John 1:14, MSG)

He came to us.
Right here, became flesh like us, moved into the neighbourhood and dwelt among us.

And when we see Him, our hearts glow.  God with us.  (With us!!!)

Merry Christmas, friends.
xo.