“Pease, Mimi” she said, as she looked up at me with those big brown eyes.
I had a million things that needed to be done but nothing that wouldn’t wait. After all, playing “wif de “billage” would be a thing of the past in a very few short years.
As I crossed my legs and sat beside her and the little village, I thought once more of the days gone by …..days when I sat beside her mother and her aunt as they played with that same little “billage” so many years ago. It had held up really well considering how many times it had been taken from its box and placed on the floor, kitchen table or even the back door steps. I could see them now; two little girls playing contentedly with the village. Although there was almost five years difference in their age, when it came to playing with the little village stores, they could get along pretty well.
“Mimi, dis fireman set in dis firetuck. He goin’ to a bid fire!” She said as she pushed the little red, white and blue fire truck down the table making all the right sounds. A favorite part of the village when Granddaughter # 2’s mother played with it was the mail truck. There was a little blue clad mailman who had little white “letters”with the name of the recipient printed boldly in black. Each white plastic letter just fit in the slit in the front door of all the stores in the village. There was the fire house, the barber shop, the theater…….on and on. What fun it was to match up the letters and shove them through the slots then look around to the open side of the village to see where each landed.
“Dis is dis such fun, Mimi, idn’t it?” Granddaughter # 2 said as she smiled up at me.
“Yes, it’s a lot of fun” I said and I truly meant it. There is nothing more satisifying than watching your grandchild enjoy spending time playing in your presence.
“Mimi, wook out, here tums the police car. Move ober a widdle. I tan’t dit fru!”
Granddaughter # 2 had been engrossed with the little “billage” now for nearly an hour. She had moved every piece of furniture in every room, including the barber chair. The people in the theater had filed out and gone home and now the policeman was making his rounds.
“Mimi, I tink I fru for now. I tink I gettin’ hungry. I tink I want mataroni and cheese today, Mimi, den apter dat we tan pay a widdle more wid the billage, otay?”
“Sure, Sweetheart, whatever you want to do. Now, let’s go wash your hands.”
Playing make believe is probably one of the best learning tools a child can have. I could play for hours with my little doll house making up stories, planning many an exciting adventure for the little family that occupied it.
How many believers live as though God were just make believe; someone we call on if we need something but we don’t really believe He will provide it. Or if He does, we call it luck or coincidence? How many of us really live as though we believe He is coming back for us one day to take us to Heaven to live with Him for eternity? Is your God just make believe or is He truly the One who controls your life each day? Is your worship of Him in His house on Sundays real or is it make believe?
In John 17:1-5 MSG, Jesus said this:
“Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said: ‘Father, it’s time. Display the bright splendor of your Son So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.You put him in charge of everything human So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge. And this is the real and eternal life: That they know you, The one and only true God, And Jesus Christ, whom you sent. I glorified you on earth By completing down to the last detail What you assigned me to do. And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor, The very splendor I had in your presence Before there was a world.’ ”
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