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It was just another day in the house on the table.  Quite a move was made that morning, as the entire home was picked up in a giant tornado, and placed gently on the smooth wooden surface.  Abu, in true form, spent his time calming down Barbie, who was still quite a bit shaken up.  In fact, Gretel was so upset, she needed to be held a few minutes by Sophie before she could be placed back in her room.

I remember when I was in elementary school, playing Ninja Turtles all over the playground.  There was a giant tree with roots sticking out of the ground, and that became their “lair”, where all the best plans would be put together.  Then the show would start, and the team of four would kick crime’s butt until the bell rang.  It. Was. Awesome.  When I was young, imagination came not only naturally; it came as a necessity.  But as I grew, as a hundred popular movies will illustrate, my ability to imagine became more and more dim.  Reality ruled.

It would be really easy at this point to go down the familiar road of how sad that is.  How even grown men need to have the imagination of the boys they once were.  How it’s a magical force, and it would include some either dreamy-tripped out experience, or actual blast from the past to reinforce the lesson.

But what if we need our imaginations to be active and strong for larger purposes?

Not that God is going to give us a cosmic set of action figures, and expect us to “play nice”.  But it seems the characteristics of God lead us to a place where our imaginations could be vital to experiencing Him.

The word “imagine” comes from the Latin word “imaginari” meaning “to form a mental picture of something”.  Another definition is “to see or hear something that does not exist” (I would add the word “yet” here also.)  Long ago, God made a covenant with Abraham that has been/is still being fulfilled.  God made a new covenant with all of creation through Jesus Christ, that is continuing until completion.  We cannot see God’s hand physically moving in our world.  We cannot see pictures of “New Creation” the way God will bring to reality.  We are surrounded by a humanity that is broken, and a world that is crumbling without the image of God being carried throughout as it was designed.

In the midst of all of this, we need a bit of “Holy Imagining”.  People who will think, love, act, and speak prophetically as citizens of the Kingdom that is, and is to come.  Transformed hearts and minds that are brought to life by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the firstborn of a new way of life that is coming.  We need people who will relate to others, and respond within life not according to how things were, how they are, or even an “optimistic view” of what could be.  But rather, who will respond to life according to how God is transforming all things, and will indeed “make all things new” (Revelation 21:5)

So when our kids tug on our shirts, begging us to play with them, let’s jump in with vigor.  As our imaginations shake off their dust, stretch out a bit, and become stronger – perhaps God will continue to give us a vision and a Life sourced not in what is – but what will be…(cue sappy Disney music)

It’s hockey season again.  That one time every year where I’ll inevitably get asked “So are you guys gonna keep trying for a boy!?”.  As father of 3 girls, and avid hockey fan, it seems like an obvious choice.

Nevertheless, nope.  3 Girls is a great number, and they do a pretty good job of reflecting me on the scale of a toddler.  A couple nights ago, in our small group, we talked about our children picking up things from us.  Sometimes we don’t realize just how much they’re paying attention, until we’re blindsided by seeing ourselves in something they do or say.  It’s inevitably going to happen, because they’re developing and growing daily, and spending time in our presence.  Learning to value what we value.  Learning to say what we say.  Learning to respond to life in the same ways we respond to life.  Learning to spend time doing what they see us doing.

So even though I don’t anticipate having a child to teach how to pee standing up, I do recognize my daughters are constantly seeing how I live my life, and how our family/home is ordered.  They’re learning what to value, and how to communicate that value.

It seems like God recognizes that about us as well, and invites us into His presence.  Jesus was called “Immanuel, which means ‘God with us’. ”  He spends time with us, knowing that without that – it’s hard for us to reflect Him into a world that is thirsty for God’s image.  He knows, because he’s created in a similar way.   He shares with us in John 5:19,

“Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”

I want to spend time in God’s presence, believing that even when I can’t see him magically answering all the prayers I bring to Him, merely the act of spending time with Him can influence/transform my ability to reflect His image into creation/my home.  Whew…that’s a long sentence.  Really just a long way of saying, the more time I spend in God’s presence, the more prepared/resourced I am to carry God’s image into creation.  The more I’m able to do that, the greater our ability for our home to be a place our children learn to carry that same image.

Heck…it seems to work well with hockey so far…:)  Game On.

Every once in a while I do something right.  As Principal and janitor for our homeschool, it’s not often I’m able to do a whole lot.

When I do, I want to brag about it.  Or at least, say that it was pretty fun.  It also did more good for my wife/family and myself personally than I realized it might.

Last Wednesday was “See You At the Pole”, which as a youth pastor means “a very full day”, ending in a worship rally with many different youth groups attending.  I hadn’t seen my family since Tuesday evening as I drove home Wednesday night.  I also knew Saturday was an all day event at our church, involving quizzing/talent competitions, and taking me out of the home.  All of this on top of knowing my wife was being hit hard by a cold/sinus thing.  So on that drive home Wednesday night, I decided it was time Mrs. Anderson got a day off.

I realize many men can’t simply “switch days off” so that a day like this doesn’t count against vacation.  But for those who can, let me say – this is a very good thing to work out.  At first, I was intimidated.  I know my wife spends a lot of time pouring over lesson plans, and making sure to hit every subject needed throughout the week.

Then I remembered the substitute teachers I had in school.  🙂

So I ended up taking our girls to the local children’s museum, where we worked on our “ABC’s” .  For Art, we painted on a giant glass wall, talking about Noah and the Ark.  For Bubbles, we played with giant bubble wands, talking about air and the reflections of light…but mostly just getting dads hair wet trying to make a bubble on him.  For Climbing, we climbed all the way to the top of the middle climbing…structure thing.  I made sure to take a potty break before that, thankfully, remembering being at the top of a giant climbing structure usually makes one have to pee.

We closed our morning together with running a couple errands, and some McDonalds out, coming home just in time to nap.

It was a great day of exploring with my girls, incredibly valuable “daddy/daughter” time, and Mrs. Anderson got a sick day.  I’m sure she would have rather had a day off when she felt great, so perhaps we’ll have to work on a “teacher in-service” day of some sort.  To any spouse of a primary homeschool parent, I definitely recommend this, if you can make it work.  It’s a great reminder of what our spouse goes through daily, and gives them a much needed break.  Time invested with our children is always worth more than it costs.