[ampaterry]

When I broke my ankle, I was highly restricted in what I could do for several months. For the first ten weeks I got so sick of sitting around the house, I was ready to scream! I wanted to go OUTSIDE! I wanted to feed the groundhogs!
Even after that, I could not mix concrete or haul gravel! I still couldn't wade in the creek and pick watercress! I completely missed the mushroom season, being unable to walk in the woods - a whole YEAR of mushrooming lost because of this injury.

This restriction was forced on me, but I can not understand people who would WISH to remain in the house! Who would choose to sit and watch TV when spring is exploding all around them? Who would stay in the house and read when they could be poking through the may-apples looking for the elusive Morel mushroom?

It gives me a new perspective on the typical parents admonition to their children to stay clean. Why do we do that? When you were a kid, were you more happy when sitting around being clean, or when you were out in the yard, the woods, or the stream, exploring this brand new world and EMERSING yourself in it?

I once read about a woman who was frustrated by how often her four-year-old son, Brian, was getting dirty playing outside. At wit's end, she finally said, "Brian, can't you play someplace where it's cleaner?"
"If God didn't want us to play in the dirt," Brian logically said, "why did he make so much of it?"
My sentiments exactly.
If we weren't supposed to play in the dirt, why did God make so much of it!

The Word of God tells us that these things that make us ‘dirty’ are the works of God, and we should rejoice in them:
Psalm 92:4-5 (KJV);
"For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep."

Your young kids, guys, will learn as much about God by digging through the mud and discovering worms as they will when they have the Bible read to them.
Make sure to set aside time for BOTH!

God bless each and every one of you -