When I was a little girl I had quite a vivid imagination as do many children. I dreamt myself out of this world and into a hundred others on an almost daily basis. I played of course the traditional house and school with my sister and friends, but my favorite adventures were the ones that took place far from this world. If when I was seven years old I had known the word mundane I probably would have used it all the time. That is the descriptive word that defined my perspective of the real world as a child. Don't get me wrong. As a child I was quite blessed. I had a mother and father that cared for me very much. But they couldn't help that real life wasn't set up like the stimulating environment of Walt Disney, Lewis Carroll, or C.S. Lewis.
You would have thought that I was quite a reader when I was little, but I wasn't. I hated reading for a long time. I blame that on the fact that books moved too slowly, and I couldn't live them out. I much more enjoyed playing Little House on the Prairie than reading it. And when I was alone I was the master of my own dream world. I remember pretending that I was a poor pauper girl picking flowers in a meadow when I princess came along and invited me to be her playmate and sister. I pretended that I was a magical nanny for children like Mary Poppins, but I improved upon the story in my thinking because I wasn't strict in anyway, and I didn't pretend that our adventures didn't happen. I pretended I was whisked away to Never Never Land by Peter Pan, and we had our own thrilling escapades. These were merely the exploits of my mind, not including the hours I would make believe with my Barbie dolls.
Sometimes I still long for the escapades of my playful imagination from my childhood. I do love to read now which allows for my imagination to be nurtured, but it is so rare a moment that I am able to. And I don't get to play. Not without some regression and others questioning my mental stability. Why does my head still think this way? Why is my hearts so intertwined in a fairytale? Almost a year ago I got my answer. My church family went over a book called Epic by John Eldridge. The book wasn't the answer. It just directed me. The answer is in scripture. It is in Ecclesiastes 3. God has set eternity in my heart. And because I have chosen to follow Him, I get to be a part of His grand adventure. His epic story. My heart which lives in a "fairytale" is made that way because there an epic story that is going on outside of this world. My heart has connected to this so strongly. The idea is so provocative, but it explains so much. Sometimes I wonder about the part that I play in this story. But all that matters is that I have been included, and my heart has been trying to tell me that all along.
Because I think this way I can't help but see God's epic story in every adventure story ever thought up by man. Harry Potter and Star Wars are two of my very favorites. And to think about it brings me complete joy. I've just started the last book in the Wicked series by Gregory Macguire. I am so excited for what I will be able to see in Oz's great conclusion. This perspective in my life has really made my everyday more thrilling.
With Love,
Mandy
He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
You would have thought that I was quite a reader when I was little, but I wasn't. I hated reading for a long time. I blame that on the fact that books moved too slowly, and I couldn't live them out. I much more enjoyed playing Little House on the Prairie than reading it. And when I was alone I was the master of my own dream world. I remember pretending that I was a poor pauper girl picking flowers in a meadow when I princess came along and invited me to be her playmate and sister. I pretended that I was a magical nanny for children like Mary Poppins, but I improved upon the story in my thinking because I wasn't strict in anyway, and I didn't pretend that our adventures didn't happen. I pretended I was whisked away to Never Never Land by Peter Pan, and we had our own thrilling escapades. These were merely the exploits of my mind, not including the hours I would make believe with my Barbie dolls.
Sometimes I still long for the escapades of my playful imagination from my childhood. I do love to read now which allows for my imagination to be nurtured, but it is so rare a moment that I am able to. And I don't get to play. Not without some regression and others questioning my mental stability. Why does my head still think this way? Why is my hearts so intertwined in a fairytale? Almost a year ago I got my answer. My church family went over a book called Epic by John Eldridge. The book wasn't the answer. It just directed me. The answer is in scripture. It is in Ecclesiastes 3. God has set eternity in my heart. And because I have chosen to follow Him, I get to be a part of His grand adventure. His epic story. My heart which lives in a "fairytale" is made that way because there an epic story that is going on outside of this world. My heart has connected to this so strongly. The idea is so provocative, but it explains so much. Sometimes I wonder about the part that I play in this story. But all that matters is that I have been included, and my heart has been trying to tell me that all along.
Because I think this way I can't help but see God's epic story in every adventure story ever thought up by man. Harry Potter and Star Wars are two of my very favorites. And to think about it brings me complete joy. I've just started the last book in the Wicked series by Gregory Macguire. I am so excited for what I will be able to see in Oz's great conclusion. This perspective in my life has really made my everyday more thrilling.
With Love,
Mandy
He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
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