The Simple Things

I'm not really a simple, no-frills kind of person. Anything I do is inevitably complex. If it's a handout, it has a bow. If it's a party, there will be roughly 30 different activities. If it's dinner for someone, I will spend all day preparing it. I think too often I get caught up in making things MORE than they need to be. Tonight I realized the value of simplifying. I took the kids to the park. Nothing big or terrible exciting. There were no TVs with entertaining shows to watch. There were no board games that played music and popped. There were no video games with amazing graphics. We didn't have a snack. It was just kids running around and playing. As I watched them, and especially Kelsey, I was just struck by how often we think we need to do bigger and better things, whether for our family, or for an activity, or for church. Kelsey smiled ear-to-ear the entire time we were there. She ran around and giggled when I pushed her in the swing. It was amazing watching her discover things, and watching her tentative steps become confident. I kept wishing I had brought my camera to capture just a little bit of that simple, childlike fun. I am so grateful for the reminder that we don't always have to do things the hard way for them to be rewarding.