Daily Devotional

I don’t know whose idea it was—my sister Marsha’s or mine. She was eleven years and I was thirteen. Our house was situated on two and a half acres. We decided to create a village under the giant cypress trees at the bottom of our property. It might have been our attempt at curing our boredom. Upon reflection on the pain of our childhood, living with a mentally ill mother, we were probably looking for a way to stay out of the house. This seemed like a great idea then. We now think it was a God-inspired idea.

We began by hunting high and low for supplies—blocks of wood, a broken mirror, twigs, small stones, bark, moss, pieces of hay, paper, and, of course, ink pens to draw on wooden blocks. Our city planners would have been proud of us for paying such close attention to the overall plan and detailed construction of the project. We spent hours planning and then gathering even more supplies.

Finally, the groundbreaking day came. Construction began with pounding stones into the hard ground to make the streets. Carefully placing the broken mirror in just the right spot, we created a beautiful lake. We carefully attached moss to twigs and planted the “trees.” We built fences out of straw. After our skillful drawings of windows and doors, the blocks of wood became buildings. My sister decided to add a special touch to one building—drawing a person leaning out the window vomiting. We laughed as we agreed it was good he was “barfing” out the window!

At the end of each day, we were a sight to behold. Blackened fingernails. Dirty from head to toe. We didn’t care; we were so very happy. In our “off hours,” we fantasized about our village. Who lived in the house at the end of the street? How many horses were in the pasture?  
Marsha and I worked on our village for months. Every day we could, we would go back to straighten out the buildings that blew over or re-plant a tree here and there. Finding a new piece of wood meant adding another building. Our village grew into a city!

Why is this one of the fondest memories my sister and I shared? Was it working together to imagine and create something tangible? Yes. Was it the many hours of conversation we enjoyed in this project? Of course! Was it how cool it looked? Certainly!

Shortly before my sister passed away, we brought up memories of our village. It was a refreshment for us—an escape from our intense and complicated home life over which we had no control. We were united in a common goal of something we could control. The village construction gave us creativity, laughter, joy, and companionship. Marsha and I believe it was one more way God was taking care of us during a very difficult time in our lives.

My sister and I came to know our Faithful Heavenly Father who was constantly working on us, piece by piece.

Ephesians 2:10 “…we are His workmanship…”
            • He was healing our past hurts.
            • He was giving us hope.
            • He was bringing us laughter, joy and companionship.

And now, as I remember my precious sister, I also know:
            • He is comforting me in my grief.

For Parents and Grandparents:

• Give your children a pile of simple things (e.g., boxes, twigs, etc.) and see what they can make out of them.
• Discuss Ephesians 2:10 “…we are His workmanship…” and explain how God is working on us.
• Inspire your kids to make up an adventure story of their own. You can record it for them while they tell you about it.
• Talk to your children about God’s creativity and point out how God made us to be creative.

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation