Spinning and Swinging

This afternoon I had the privilege to take my youngest two kids, Lexi and AJ, to the park to play. It was a cool blustery fall day and I sat there watching them run from swing to slide to spinner and back again. The energy they have is overwhelming and if I could bottle and sell that boundless energy I would be the wealthiest man in the world. You know the energy I am talking about! The kind that allows you to run unhindered and unabashed as you celebrate the honor of life! My heart was warmed as my skin chilled in the cool air watching them play effortlessly without a care in the world (except for when AJ decided to try and stop his sister from spinning with a foot to the head).

They truly were spinning wildly when I captured these images. You can see the smile on Lexi's face here as she experienced the unescapable sense of spinning. What is it about spinning that makes kids go wild and crazy? What is it about that dizzy feeling that causes them to giggle as they struggle to maintain balance when the ride is over? I know some of you could probably toss your cookies just by reading this account and other's of you thrive on the thrill of a good spin. I bravely took a spin on the contraption and quickly realized I was no longer a good candidate for spinning! In less than 30 seconds I had been hurled off stumbling into the grass giggling and laughing myself. My kids watching me and laughing as me as I tried to figure out which way was up!

As I sat back down on the bench it occurred to me that the joy I was experiencing was that of complete abandon! It was clear that in the presence of such abandon that the only thing that fit in that space within me was JOY! What an interesting revelation! In that 60 second span of time I let it ALL go. No worries! No bills! No fears! No what ifs! It was all completely gone from my being and I just allowed myself to enjoy the moment. Literally just a moment! Is it possible that we can enjoy that sense of abandon for more than just a moment at a time? If so, how do we do that? I honestly don't have a definitive answer, but I KNOW! God is a God of the impossible. His ways are not our ways and each day we are given about 67 choices per second, which we process and determine to waste our time and energy on or let it go! Don't get me wrong I am not advocating that we all go around and ignore our daily activities and responsibilities to the point of abandoning those things. Yet, why not allow those things to NOT fill our beings! No more littering of ourselves as a result of life, but rather letting the residual stuff go. I KNOW! Each day is a gift and we have to determine how to best use that gift!

As I apparently left the planet for a few moments as I pondered the abandon issue, I looked up and saw my two amazing kiddos flying through the air by means of the swing! Who doesn't love a good swing! Jump into the seat, grab the chains and start pumping your legs and feel the wind of the moment overtake you! Back and forth and higher and higher and faster and faster! Who doesn't remember that sensation from their childhood? If you don't remember please get to a swing set ASAP!

Hearing the cries of glee as they soared into the sky a little higher with each pump my heart was overwhelmed that I could experience this moment with AJ and Lexi. I KNOW! That some day (all too soon) they will be too big to swing on a swing with me! Which brings me back to the notion of "abandon". As parents are we too absorbed with the protecting of our kids and doing all we can to ensure their health and well-being that we forget to let them have fun. I admit I had a moment when AJ was swinging so high he was nearly even with the top of the swing set and wanted to call out for him to slow it down a bit! But I didn't do that this time. He is clearly at a point in his childhood that living in abandon is mandatory and I chose not to stifle the moment.

Just thinking about having moments of abandon (i.e. pure joy) in life I realized that "somewhere in my youth and childhood" (think Leisl and Kurt) that I lost the ability to access that sense of abandon! Now I am choosing to encourage my children to find their moments of abandon and live in those moments as long as they can. Do you have a crazy Uncle Ed who is just a big kid, always up for a gag, pull my finger, and etc. How many times do we think Uncle Ed needs to get a new schstick and get a grip and grow up. My Uncle Ed used to slide his false teeth out of his mouth just enough to get all my cousins and I screaming and laughing at him. I can stil recall his own laughter as he played with us. He did this for years, but he doesn't do it anymore as I think the superglue he uses finally took hold! (Love Ya Uncle Ed). Yet I can't help but wonder if I don't have simultaneous moments of jealousy of Uncle Ed's abandon to celebrate life and just be a big kid. Instead we have been trained by our culture that such thinking and behavior is not acceptable nor warranted for an adult with responsibilities. Life is short people! Do we have time to not live with abandon! Do you really want to get to your death bed and think about regrets, or rather focus on the celebratory moments you had during your life.

So this is what I KNOW! I am going to start looking for moments of abandon in my life. I am going to start being more intentional in how I see the world around me and let those moments overtake me and hopefully last for more than just a moment. If you see me running through the fields wrecklessly going no where specific. If you see me jump on the swing and see how high I can go. If you see me spinning and then staggering to maintain my balance. If you see me doing anything akin to slightly weird just chalk it up to building up my abandon stamina! And on top of all that I am going to challenge myself to live a life of total abandon to my God. Working to diligently let it go, give it up and pick my battles carefully. Who is with me???????