I’m at Birkdale in Huntersville looking for a little inspiration from anywhere. For those who’ve never been here, it’s pretty cool. It’s a self-contained outdoor mall with uber-cool apartments above all of the stores. In the middle is a roundabout that’s large enough to have a small “waterpark”, if you will. There are fountains shooting out of the ground from everywhere which mom’s bring their kids to play in and benches under large white arbors surrounding the play area for the mom’s to relax and talk while enjoying a reprieve.
Normally I wouldn’t think twice about this scene since I’ve sat here hundreds of times before and seen the same thing countless times. (Jo & I lived across the street from Birkdale our first year of marriage and this was probably my favorite place to chill out.) But something along the same line from the weekend brought it to my attention. A couple from our small group threw a graduation party for their oldest daughter and there were a ton of families there. There were toddlers, tweens, high-schoolers & graduates. In the field out back about 20 kids in their late teens were playing ultimate frisbee while younger kids played in the backyard running & doing flips & cartwheels.
A guy named Bruce from our small group was sitting in a chair in the backyard silently, when I asked, “What are you doing man? Why don’t you come join the adult party?!” He said, “I’m just enjoying watching all of the different age groups. There’s something so awesome about watching these kids have fun like this. Those young guys playing frisbee can run so fluidly & have no clue that they’ll one day move rigidly like me. But, the little kids have no clue that they’ll one day be able to run so fluidly instead of having short wobbly steps.”
They don’t think about the future much at all. They just enjoy being able to do what they’re capable of to it’s fullest extent. It’s innocent. The teens aren’t saying to themselves, “I’d better enjoy this now before I start having hip surgeries” And the small kids aren’t saying, “Well, I can’t run like the big kids, so why even try?” Enjoyment at it’s purest.
So these kids run through fountains at Birkdale in much the same way, chasing one another & screaming with delight. They fall down from time to time, get picked up by their mom, shed a few tears & within minutes join the fray once again. Their lives were meant to be enjoyed & they intend on doing it to their fullest ability.
