When I was a little boy, my dad would often do amazing things with me and my siblings. He would say things like "Come on kids, let's go build a giant kite!", and we would! We spent most of a morning building a frame out of bamboo, then stretching polyurethane sheeting over it, and duct taping it all together. We then got out dad's surf-caster fishing rod and reel, hooked it up and took it out to the ball field for a fly. That thing was amazing! It was so big, that when the wind was strong, I could hold on that surf-caster with all my might, take a big jump, and it would pick me up and make me soar through the air!
Then another time, dad said something like, "Come on kids, let's go build an underground house!" And we did! Sadly, the soil behind our house was not the best for underground houses, it didn't drain. So our underground house became an underground muddy hot tub the first time it rained. Still, for a while there we had a hole in the ground big enough for us all to fit in!
A couple of times we did things that too this day defy belief, like the time we made a house in a hollow tree, and then spent the night in it. Or the time we made a catapult worthy of a siege on Rome. Or the time we skinned a road kill raccoon and made a hat. Or the time we went spear fishing for lobster and nearly didn't make it back to shore.
As I got older, I tried at times to emulate the adventures we would have with dad on my own. Needless to say, they left me somewhat disappointed. My kite didn't pick me up and send me soaring, it wouldn't even fly.
I am grateful for a dad who was so ready to invite us to do adventurous things with him, because it prepared me for the kind of plans my Heavenly Father comes up with. He invites me to do things that I could never dream of doing on my own, things that leave me shaky with adrenaline, and breathless with delight.
Like the time he invited me to visit a prison inmate, and share the gospel through bullet proof glass, and the guy gave his life to the Lord! Or the time He sent me to talk with a Chinese student, who had never heard the good news, and he also believed! Or the time He broke my car, and then fixed it again so that a dude with "thug life" tattooed on his knuckles could understand that He is real.
At times I try to do adventurous things on my own, but they never are nearly as good as when I'm doing the things that my Father has in mind.
...So Father, here I am, along with my family, we are totally at your disposal.
Amen.
