‘If the sun is not awake, then you aren’t allowed to play yet.’ That’s the rule in our house for our three year old. A few months back, we were going through a phase where she would wake up in the middle of the night and wander the house– usually hiding somewhere so that when we figured out she was out of bed, we would have to search to find her before settling her again. Once she realized that didn’t work, she started coming to our bed every night, which also grew old fast. 

That was when we taught her that when the sun goes down, we go to sleep, and when it rises again we can start a new day of playing. But if she wakes and the sun isn’t up yet, she has to try to go back to sleep.

Wisdom comes with experience. For the most part, that’s what we believe– that the longer you live, the more wisdom you have. It’s not a wrong line of thinking, as throughout our lives, the things we go through teach us something; so experiences hone wisdom because the knowledge was gained through living. 

But Godly wisdom isn’t just this passively gained thing as we go through life. It doesn’t happen by osmosis. Godly wisdom is something gained through active pursuit. It’s an intentional process that costs us something in order to receive and apply it.

My daughter got a Pretty, Pretty Princess game for Christmas this year. The premise is simple, there is a game board, a spinner, and a bowl full of different color jewelry in the middle. The goal is to go around the game board and gather all the pieces of jewelry in your color: necklace, bracelet, ring, a pair of earrings, and a crown. The first one to have all their jewelry wins.

Me and my husband have played this game with her about two dozen times since she got it, and no exaggeration: she wins every time. She loves it. Dripping in jewelry, her smile is as big as a billboard when she realizes she won; she is the pretty, pretty princess.

What does it mean to be completely devoted to someone or something? 

Even marriages have the “honeymoon phase,” where the couple is totally enamored with each other. Everything is new, and precious, and exhilarating. There’s something similar when you become new parents– “the bubble” as it’s now affectionately called. Where you bring that child home and they are so agreeable, so cute, so new and wonderful, that the world just feels novel and sweet.

A river runs through our town, and at this time of year, it’s partially frozen. The thing about a river is that for it to be totally frozen is rare. The temperature has to be way below freezing for an extended period of time in order to overcome the constant flow of water and freeze it solid. If you look at a river that is starting to freeze though, you’ll notice that the ice is primarily on the banks, where the current is the slowest.