A lesson in puddle jumping

As the storm came through I would occasionally peek outside to check the status. At best it was a rainstorm with a moment of high winds. For the most part the DFW area only experienced a light bit of rain today. We are praying for the TX coastal cities that were hit so hard. The pictures and video of what happened in Houston and Galveston are unbelievable. So many of our church staff have relatives that are affected by Ike.

At one point I stepped outside and it seemed to be a perfect opportunity to have my kids come out and play. The kids had been inside all day and were getting a bit stir crazy. I had no idea they'd have so much fun. We ended up walking around the block. The longer we went the more the kids jumped. At one point I had to roll up Sam's pants so that he could keep jumping.

We found the drain where the water was rushing to. We sent leaf boats down the drain and jumped around. I was reminded of a few things on our puddle jumping walk today.

• Go for it... I didn't have to teach my kids how to jump in the water. I showed them the best puddles and they jumped. How many times do I know the right thing to do, have it pointed out, and yet wait to think about if it's right or not?

• Carefree... I saw this quite a bit on our walk. Emma's socks were getting wet and Sam's pants got soaked, but they didn't care because they were having a blast.

• Laugh a lot... there was no shortage of laughter on this walk. By the end of the walk the kids had even made the spashing into a game. I am convinced that there are too many adults that have lost their ability to laugh and have fun. The saddest part of all is that most of these adults think they are being a better Christ follower this way. Some how there's an equation with honoring Christ and being boring. Just to clarify, I totally disagree! A Christ-like life is the most exciting life. A God-honoring life is more exciting than the greatest day of puddle jumping. Jumping in puddles is good for the soul.

Watching my kids jumping around and laughing today made me remember a time like this for me. One particular rainstorm I jumped onto my BMX bike and rode all day. I was soaked. It was great. Somehow responsiblity equals not taking any risks. We even term it as calculated risks. Can a risk be calculated?

Get out... find a puddle... and jump. It's kinda fun.
Live life and experience some laughter.
Live the life that Christ has said we can.