My friend Addison comes to a children’s walk downtown prepared!

“What a good idea,” I said to her as we headed out of church to hit the trail, pointing to the toy binoculars around her neck.

“Thanks,” said the second grader, fingering a plastic lens. “It’s in case I see something.”

I nodded.

“I probably will,” she added.

Addison, you are my hero.

Let’s all be Addison, absolutely sure that although we have no idea what’s ahead of us, we fully expect that something cool or weird or wonderful is out there that we’ll want to examine more closely. Let’s be on the lookout instead of staring at our feet, asking how much longer til our journey is done!

I have to say that I didn’t hear that question EVEN ONCE during our 45 minute walk.

Maybe I just had good walking partners, or maybe the kids were too busy tumbling all over each other and off of the asphalt, doing cartwheels, picking honeysuckle and suckling out the sweetness, picking up sticks and waving them around, jumping and skipping and stopping mid step to pick up a leaf or smell a weed, or nearly cause a bike rider to swerve into the grass. (So sorry, bike riders!) ON YOUR LEFT, KIDS! Oh yeah, you might not know which side that is.

Let’s all be kids, walking the trail with all our senses in play.

In PLAY!

Running when we see the table set for us, an ice cream party in the park, loading up our bowls with chocolate or vanilla, all the sprinkles and jellly beans and oreos and M&M’s and caramel and chocolate syrup and whipped cream and more sprinkles, because God is good, and why not?

Why not?

Maybe I’ve been hanging around church too long, but it kind of felt like the Lord’s Supper to me.

What? The Lord doesn’t eat dessert?

Peace to you on your own journey through the honeysuckle and the weeds! May you have your binoculars handy and see ice cream at the end of the trail!