In all of my programing and all of my scheduling I have been struck by the fact there there is very little unstructured together time where we can come together and just be. I find that this is the case as a church, youth ministry, friend, family and even in our personal lives.
I recall in one of my Recreation classes in college (yes I was a rec minor) when we talked about the advent of playgrounds. And the way that they brought unstructured play to places after World War 2. The first playground was essentially a pile of dirt. Yet it gave kids an avenue for imagination, adventure and unstructured time together.
Being able to give time to unstructured fun is something that we all need. Finding a time when/where you can come and go as you please. Try to make time for this. It is something that you are going to have to schedule because there are a million and one reasons why you shouldn’t or why it could get pushed to the side.
Each week at youth group we try and give young people this kind of time and they can’t get enough of it. Yeah it is fun, but besides that it is time to be with one another that they very rarely get. Being together and sharing in life together and sharing our stories seems to be slipping away from us as a culture. But being in real fellowship with one another (and not being preoccupied with a task at hand) is a mark of a community of deep faith. We are able to better know one another and better know God through this kind of sharing.
