Hide N Seek

Do you people think that I am some local deity
and not the transcendent God?” the Lord asks.“Do you really think anyone can hide himself
where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks.
“Do you not know that I am everywhere?”
the Lord asks.  - Jeremiah 23:23-24

 

Raise of hands how many of you have ever played a champion game of Hide N Seek?  Or Sardines?  Many of youth lock-ins we played champion rounds of Sardines.  There is something compelling about disappearing but not for long as people seek you out.  One of my earliest memories or "faux" memories ( could totally be a created memory through past stories or dreamed) is playing Hide N Seek in Germany with the big kids when I was very young.  I remember there was a green van with a skinny locker.  This was a popular hiding space.  I remember sneaking inside and waiting for what felt forever.  Looking back now I wonder if it felt like forever because I was twoish or because I was two and I was allowed to play "wink wink" and hid just too well that no one could find me.  Although someone always hid in this cool spot. Being a mom to a toddler I understand that sometimes a cool spot to hide can be overlooked for a bit of time - "wink wink" :)

 

Speaking of my li'l man.  He has entered the love of Hide N Seek.  I had made a resolution to work out daily - haven't quite hit this goal but I do get in quite a few rounds of champion Hide N Seek.  I say champion because we play speed version.  When mommy or daddy counts it is a full ten seconds to allow proper hiding.  When the 3 year old counts it can range from three to six seconds but the finder is moving with peeking eyes toward the hider.  It is a sprint to get to the other side of the house with the counter closing in quickly.  Hurdles of moving pets or dodging toys are too common of obstacles.  Sometimes we as parents team tag to stop and restart the counting on official standards to allow giggles to subside, oxygen to be gathered, and allowing one to actually hide instead of pretending to be a lamp no one notices. . . in the middle of the room ;)  Here are 2 pictures of actual hiding spots as if the giggles weren't the giveaway ;)

 

 

 

 

What good fun!  We laugh, we gasp, we hide, we run, and we pretend.  A truly classic game - Hide N Seek.  As we get older we play different versions of the game with probably a lot less laughter.  We hide from responsibility, procrastinate from duties, ignore calls from sticky relationships that may include bill collectors, frenemies, charity requests, or dramatic friends/family/exes, etc.   Perhaps some of us, most of us, okay probably all of us try to hide from God.  God asks an awful lot of us sometimes.  God whispers, prods, sometimes fully shoves us toward doing good.  God asks and we whine "Don't wanna".  I don't always want to be good.  I sometimes (a lot of time) enjoy being a sloth.  And other times I can barely take care of me and God wants me to be responsible for others?  Yeesh (hands on face pulling down cheeks).  Sometimes we need that time of hiding to be quiet time to grieve, to shake out the mistakes we've made, to forgive the wrongs that stung (from others as well as our own misdoings to self)  but there is a time to also step back into the land of visibility.  We think we are hiding from God but really it's like parents playing Hiding N Seek.  Oh no I can't see you hiding right there in the middle of the living room.  Wherever could my child be as we stroll through the grocery store and the child is strapped in the cart but with eyes closed.  Sometimes God plays along but the game has to end and usually it is abrupt.  No more cooing or whispering of name or laughing at the ridiculous "invisible" pose.  All of sudden "time's up we got things to do.  Clean up this mess so we can move on."  

 

I miss my kid hang outs, secret clubs, and my favorite hiding spot of all in my closet.  I had engineered a hanging flashlight so I could hide amongst my things (including my fantastic sticker collection of over 3000 stickers:)  in comfort with a pillow, a good book, and usually a snack of some sort.  When I entered my closet I was one step closer to Narnia and able to experience true peace, restore energy, and gain a little extra knowledge or creative spark.  But flashlight batteries do not last forever and I would leave my special hiding place to join the real world.  

 

How God must laugh when we attempt to hide in clever spots and yet to God we remain in clear view.  But out of love tends to give us some room and when time calls to us, Time's up sweetheart, stand up, clean up, and let's get going to the places we need to be."  What is even better that although we try to hide and disappear someone is always not just looking for us but looking out for us as well. "  What a blessing to have such an almighty and powerful God!

 

May you find time to play, to laugh, to hide, be sought, and to seek what truly matters. ' Til we meet again. . .       

 

What if . . .

WHAT IF?

 

I fell in love. . . 

 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. --- Philippians 4:10 - 13

 

with my own life? 

 

 

I am a dreamer.  I day dream.  I create stories.  I imagine possibilities.  I people watch and wonder.  I watch movies and hope that life will pick up the cues. I read to visualize.  I problem solve.  I invent ideas.  I play matchmaker.  I want things to connect in ways that click.  

 

These are good things to do sometimes...maybe even a majority of the time.  But all the time?  Tinkerers get tired, cranky, and feel unresolved much of the time.  Because life does not pick up movie cues and ideas that never transfer to material never happen.  Dreamers need to either learn how to translate dreams to reality, partner with a doer, or live unresolved.  That's a tricky place to live.  It's not as tiring as a fence rider who never picks a side.  A dreamer knows to follow the clouds or the stars.  But it can be a ride of discouragement.  The path is long, not smooth, and filled with naysayers who were too discouraged to try or have grown weary themselves.  And let's be honest dreamers we get easily distracted, a brighter star or more interesting cloud easily enchants us away from a purpose to yet another dream. 

 

Has anyone else grown weary?  Oh dreamer who has grown tired, I feel your weariness.  Its like trying to catch butterflies that look so perfect, pristine, and available and as you quiver in anticipation for that amazing capture it flutters away so easily as if there wasn't even a chance of catching that breathless moment of receiving the treasure. 

 

We live in a world full of surveys, contests, tweets, comments, and snapshots.  We are asked, pushed, almost ordered to offer our immediate opinions, judgments, thoughts of anything and everything.  Of course we are critical of ourselves and others.  As advertising is no longer a page in the magazine or a thirty second commercial on television.  Companies merge to offer several products every go around, products place themselves within the shows and movies and offered "freebies" and good deals that constantly direct us back to products and services. It is easy to get swept up into consumerism, false needs, and the not good enough syndrome.  For most dreamers success is defined opposite of everything they are, have, or know.  One too many critics in one's head deflates the dreamer's dreams slowly but surely. And the dreamer who's dreams fade loses themselves.  They too catch greedy fever or needy wantitis. You can call it keeping up with the Joneses or that the grass is always greener.  But really its fear of disappearing.     

 

 

A dreamer knows the little things and wants to magnify them to embrace as many hearts as possible.  Are you a dreamer?  Do you pause before you close the book because of the powerful ending and you want the words to just have a final sigh?  Have you sat through the ending credits of a movie because you were too stunned to move?  Did you ever wake up from a dream with a sigh and close your eyes again to grasp as much detail from it before you start your day?  Was there ever a picture that soothed your soul? Can you remember an invention that you created years ago and you see in reality today?  When was the last time you played the What if game of your memorable moments to create a new better life?  Where would you imagine is the best place to people watch?  Would you like to be a dreamer?

 

 

Were any of these questions close to the heart?  If so there is a good chancer you fall on the dreamer scale somewhere.  But a dreamer tends to tinker past the point worth tinkering or grows tired just short of the finish line  and that's where the critic crushes a dreamer's heart.  What may have been sweet, cute, or amazing can easily turn bitter, ugly, or grotesque.  An unfulfilled dreamer becomes one of the worst critics and nothing is good enough for impossible standards. 

 

I believe I have fallen into that trip.  What started as tinkering became opinions that became critiques that grew into beastly judgments and impossible standards.  Because misery likes company.  Don't get me wrong there are a billion miracles and a gazillion blessings to find in this world.  But rose colored glasses get easily hidden when the tar of misery paints one's perspective.  Once in awhile I'll catch this beautiful image of my life: my son's giggle, my husband hugging me tightly, a sincere compliment at a true moment of weakness,  my dog's wagging tail, or my kitty's in your face demand to be petted, or the phone call from a friend reminding you of your importance.  There are so many other amazing moments where God paints the most beautiful rainbow after the rain, or you witness someone's moment(s) of embracing God's true love.  Or that God will take the time to remind us how wonderful our lives truly can be when we learn to embrace them in love.  Who wants to play a round of the What if game with answers?

 

What if. . .I'm not perfect?  

                 You're not but that's okay.

What if. . .I get hurt?

                  You will but you will grow stronger.

What if . . .I fail?

                 It happens, but success will be that much sweeter.

What if. . .I disappoint someone?

                 This too will happen but offers lessons in apologies, forgiveness, and choice.

What if. . .I fell in love with my own life?

                 That would change everything. 

 

May you fall in love with your own life.  May blessings and miracles be around every corner.  May life grow healthier and FULL as you embrace Feeling Unbelievable & Loving Life.  'Til meet again..