Earlier this week, I spent two entire days on the playground with my children.
Like a 9-5 job, we were out there all. day. long.
My sister and her family were visiting this week during Spring Break, so we trekked out there with our water bottles, snacks, wet wipes, and sunscreen and parked ourselves on a bench while the kids shot straight for the swings and sandbox.
A picture of my to-do list danced in the back of my mind a few times, but I pushed it aside.
We walked up a small hill and as my boys blew bubbles, I walked along with them, pushing down the guilt that I wouldn’t get all my chores and other responsibilities done in time.
“Mama! Look! I caught the bubble on my wand!” I was quickly brought back into reality.
“Wow! Great job!” I said with a smile.
By 5 p.m., after lunch, a ton of snacks, multiple rides down the slide and sand everywhere, I was spent.
I needed a LONG nap….but they had enough energy to keep going, so cajoling them into their car seats was no easy task.
Later that night, as I laid in bed, I had a light bulb moment. I realized that I had probably done THE most important thing I could’ve crossed off my to-do list – I mothered my children.
Without realizing it, I was ministering to these young minds, a job God specifically gave ME to do. It was a type of ministry that gets forgotten….playground ministry.
Here are a few life lessons we all learned along the way, and believe it or not, they can all be backed up with Scripture.
- Don’t go up the slide the wrong way – To avoid an accident, go DOWN the slide so you are safe. Rules are put in place for our protection. “We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.” 1 Timothy 1:8
- Share the sand shovel – “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:16
- Be nice to each other – “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1
- Take turns, Mama! – (A lesson my 5-year-old taught me after we washed our hands in the bathroom) “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” Philippians 2:3
- Time with my children is never wasted time. That was my biggest lesson that day. “Train up child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
God entrusted me with these little minds, and in the midst of the tantrums, demands for ice cream, and tugs on my sleeve, may I never forget both the HONOR and the JOY of raising a woman and two men of God that will someday change the world.
Most importantly, may I remember that the most important thing I could’ve accomplished that day happened on a playground.
~Elizabeth (Betsy)
