Seventh Day of Advent: Play

Play prepares our hearts for worship. Play, not as entertainment or competition, but a joyous movement of body and mind, prepares us to adore, to love in the highest degree, our Triune God.

True play is sheer gratefulness and joy in being alive. Our spirits release our grip on the world or fly free of the world's grip on us.

As adults we sometimes have to relearn how to play. We find it difficult to let go of the tensions of the day; we find it difficult not to compare or compete.

Thus, when we play, we practice those movements and thoughts that lead us deeper into worship. Here I am to worship you, Lord Jesus, knowing I can trust you with my life.

Photo credit: Melissa Jean Photography

True play brings joy in being alive with others and enables us to practice the joy that happens in communal worship. Then, having practiced and received joy, we are better able to give joy.

I have not given all the dictionary definitions and research I have on the value of play (dictionary on my left hand side; research on my right -- "Prone to research, Lord, I feel it..."), but, when the tensions of celebrating the perfect Christmas season weigh us down, I hope we will stop to play in joyful abandonment and worship of the One who brings us faith, hope, and love. 

Zuppa Tuscana and Play Time Make For a Good Day!

This is my "Plans Went Awry" Font. You probably didn't realize I change fonts for each of the days: Times for Contemplation; Verdana for Wholeness, etc. I'm using Trebuchet for when my plans for the day don't work out. I confess that I can't really tell the difference between Verdana and Trebuchet except that Trebuchet seems a little smaller. On the other hand, I can tell the difference between a day filled with stress and a day when I am flexible. 

I started on Part II of Conquering Anger early this morning, but I didn't finish it. I thought I would continue writing later in the day. In the past, I would have pushed on through getting angry at anyone who or anything that blocked my path. For what purpose? What was the use of accomplishing something if no one wanted to share in the joy of the accomplishment? 

Instead, today, I went to my tutoring job, came back up the hill to pick up my granddaughter, played her invented game, and made Zuppa Tuscana. Voila! I'll write on #13 off of the 365 Writing Prompts: What did I eat for dinner? I'm not sure why the list writer figured someone's dinner would be universally interesting; however, I will tell anyone who has read this far that my husband and I ate leftovers on Monday. He ate a leftover hamburger and I ate a baked bean sandwich (using gluten-free bread, of course). You may never have heard of baked bean sandwiches; they might be a mid-west American food as I learned how to make it from my family. Leftovers gone, I made this soup today. 

  
Food photography is not my gift -- the soup even steamed up the camera lens -- but this is a very yummy soup so I'm including my friend Rebecca's recipe here. 

ZUPPA TUSCANA 
1 pound Italian sausage, cooked in the oven
3/4 cup chopped onion 
3 Tablespoons butter 
4 cloves garlic (I used the frozen squares of garlic and they worked fine)
1 cube chicken boullion
4 cups water 
2 thinly sliced potatoes 
2 cups kale, washed, dried, and diced 
1/3 cup whipping cream 
Saute onions in butter for 10 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add water, bouillon and potatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add kale, cream and sausage. Simmer for 5 minutes. Serves 6. (That's what the recipe says, but I had the amount in the bowl shown up above, my husband had two bowls full, and I don't think there were three bowls worth leftover.)

And, I think I will write one last word about overcoming anger: play. I love playing my granddaughter's game because we play it just to laugh and build a relationship that will last long after the game ends, and leave good memories beyond my lifetime. Overcoming anger starts with little steps like learning how to laugh and have joy in one's life. 

Not a picture of my granddaughter and me (no one around to take a picture of us :D), but one from a missions trip. Our joy and laughter at home is just as important as the joy and laughter we share away from home.