For this is the love of God, That we keep His commandments; And His commandments are not burdensome.
I John 5:3
Yesterday I made my list.
1. Dust downstairs
2. Mop kitchen floor
3. Finish making jam
On and on the list droned the delight right out of my day.
Yet still, I had my list and it needed doing and so I did.
That’s when I saw the little Mobile Man standing at the door of my barn church.
Which started a quiet chuckle… then a laugh…which led to a full blown I love life moment as I imagined Jude or Duke or Mo or maybe it was Sunday, setting that little man there with a whole story to go with him.
And do you know what? That little man changed my whole day.
Children don’t work through lists.
They play—all day long.
And didn’t Jesus gather those play-planning kids into His lap and with twinkling eyes tell His goal-oriented, stress-driven disciples to be just like these little players?
“Like a child”, He said.
And so my list changed in that moment.
1. Dance through my beautiful, cozy home, swinging a dust rag as I do so it’s all shining tonight when we get to pray over John as he leaves for Zimbabwe…
2. Swish those sticky places and do a little jig of joy for all the meals prepared and people loved right over this floor…
3. Create beauty in a jar and imagine the moment of opening in mid-winter…
4. Discover… play all day!
I wonder if Jesus wasn’t thinking of me that day when He gathered those kids on His lap. Looking down through centuries, past history, at the stressed-out woman writing her list. Grim faced and determined to do it all.
“His commandments are not burdensome”, John said. So why am I so burdened?
Maybe because I need to be just like a child.
Maybe because He has other plans for this day.
Maybe because He wants me to play the day away…
From my heart,
Diane