Recently, I was outside and heard a pounding...chopping sound coming from the woods out front. And come to think of it, I had been hearing this for the past few days. I asked my daughter what all the noise was about and she said, "The boys are making a dugout canoe!". Well, I had to go check this out for myself...

As is usually the case, when given the opportunity for free time, my boys elect to go outside and play. We don't watch any TV in our house, and we don't own any video games. It is my wife Nancy and my belief, that the less toys we own, the more our children will be encouraged to use their imaginations and participate in creative play. The old saying goes..."Bordom is the mother of invention." This has proven to be true. Case in point...

Recently, I was outside and heard a pounding...chopping sound coming from the woods out front. And come to think of it, I had been hearing this for the past few days. I asked my daughter what all the noise was about, and she said, "The boys are making a dugout canoe!". Well, I had to go check this out for myself.

I walked over to see Teddy, my 6 year old son, (soon to be 7) whacking away, teeth clenched, at an old downed tree with the claw end of my Estwing hammer, wood chips a flyin'. You see, everyday when Teddy wakes up, his apparel has a theme. One day he's Davy Crockett, the next it's a WWII soldier. How he chooses to dress is usually directly affected by what he is reading or has recently been exposed to. We have been studying "The Corps of Discovery" adventures of Lewis and Clark, so I suspect Teddy and the other boys (I have 4) became inspired to carve out this dugout canoe as a result.

I look on this scene with delight, knowing this kind of "play" is the precursor to what will someday become a young man's work upon envisioning and planning his dreams and goals in life. Thinking back on it now, that delight and warm feeling was rooted in a deep sense of fulfillment... What I was in fact observing, was a realization of a vision and a dream for Nancy and me. We envisioned a home rich with opportunity for imagination and good old-fashioned play. And we set out... selling our big house in the burbs to live in a smaller house on land and home school our children...

Our dreams have come true.

Proverbs 29:18...Where there is no vision, the people perish...

Joel 2:28...And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions...

Praise the Lord.

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