July 30, 2010
Twenty-five years ago as I knelt next to a bathtub in our home in Fort Wayne I had a singular purpose in mind… scrub the boys; remove the unwanted remnants of a day of play. Wash cloth, soap… and elbow grease provided the necessary tools to perform the crisply-bordered activities that were associated with bath-time.
An unwritten, but fully understood parameter around this time was that a successful bath-time was only possible if the water remained confined. Splashing and spraying were strictly forbidden.
On Tuesday night I was once again in the familiar kneeling position next to a tub… this time in Aurora, CO, and this time it was two young girls in the tub… Malia and Davey, my granddaughters.
Mary tended to the functional aspects of the bathing while I incrementally, enthusiastically, and with full participation, broke each of the water confinement rules that I had established over twenty-five years before. I methodically refilled squirting toys and handed them to Malia so that she could randomly shoot whatever she wished… including me. She giggled… and I laughed. Her eyes lit up… even as she watched mine do the same.
The girls splashed, sprayed, poured… sometimes inside the walled confines… and yes, sometimes not. And not only did I not care; I encouraged. Openly fanning the flame of celebration and joy.
When we live life… really live life… water splashes. Sometimes it stays obediently inside the parameters we’ve defined, but sometimes it escapes… sometimes it gets stuff wet… sometimes it goes where we hadn’t really planned for it to go.
And as joy splashes outside its boundaries… something wonderful happens…
It may have taken twenty-five years, but I’ve finally learned what bath-time is all about… and to Andrew and Erik… I’m sorry I missed this point.
Splash more.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." ~ John 10:10
Spontaneous, unbounded, unscripted, beautiful life…
Life that gets dry things wet… life that requires a little clean up at the end… life that reflects sacrifice, risk, courage and celebration.
Yes, splash more. Life to the full. Buckets and squirt toys included.
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