![go play along 4 cracks go play along 4 cracks](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0ur6UKwEwoA/hqdefault.jpg)
And that’s a lot better than sitting nice and clean in front of a TV or video games.Īnd at the Heart of it All… Learning to Put Myself SecondĪt the center of my struggle all along was my desire to be in control and remain comfortable. Sure this isn’t going to make them rocket scientists overnight but they’re exploring and creating. Meanwhile, my 3-year-old was content going back and forth between filling buckets of water and dumping it on sand to watch it disappear through the cracks. My 4-year-old son decided it was the coolest thing to roll a ball through the mud and aim for a hula hoop. Side note, there are plenty of studies that show dirt is actually good for our body, brains, and skin! (Read Up: New York Times: Babies Know, a Little Dirt is Good for You, WebMD: Are We Too Clean? Letting Kids Get Dirty And Germy) I can just imagine God’s pleasure in being glorified as our little ones delight in his creation (and us too!). If God created the earth, called it good, and gave it to us to cultivate, then some of the greatest good we can do is to enjoy it too! Some of my fondest memories growing up are of walking in my grandparents’ creek and making mud pies. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.” ( Psalm 95:4-5) “In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. God gave us the earth to explore and enjoy. Here are the 3 things I learned during that dirty, precious, joyful playtime: I also used the time to reflect on the lesson God was trying to teach me in letting go of my often too quickly given “no.” I ignored the mommy judgment and spent the next hour watching my boys delight in squishing mud and pouring buckets of water. I heard the pleas of the kids to jump in the puddle too and the questions asking why they couldn’t play in the mud. The stares came quickly as did the swift warnings to their own children. Other moms quickly began to scoop up their children out of the sand and move onto the more “clean” playground area. And in letting them be free, I set myself free. I would have to help them get into the car all wet and muddy, I would be the one cleaning out the van when we got home, I would be the one giving them baths, my quiet time during naps would be cut short… and so went the excuses played on in my mind. As a young mom, I had too often said no because of the inconvenience it would make for myself. Oh how my type-A personality wanted to scream no way! My heart saw their happy faces and began to plead with them for the fun of being a carefree child, even if it meant a mess to clean after.
![go play along 4 cracks go play along 4 cracks](https://iigg-games.net/gimgs/real-fishing-vr/real-fishing-vr-pc-crack.jpg)
While all of the other children were content, or so they seemed, digging and playing in the sand pile next to the puddle, my two boys looked up with those big blue eyes and pleaded to play in the mud. They immediately did what all boys always do and found the biggest puddle of water and mud. It was early noon on a hot summer day with temperatures nearing 95 degrees when I took my 3 and 4-year-old sons to a local farm to burn off some energy (and hopefully wear out for a good nap!).