Peter came to visit a few days, during his Spring Break. A friend at church suggested a play date on Tuesday afternoon, with her own grandson, who was also spring-break visiting. I suggested a neighborhood park close to our house. There’s a large oval track and a few playground structures with slides and climbing structures.

A few families were there and kids were running and climbing and playing. Our two boys joined in.

There are also benches, perfect for a couple of grandmothers to sit and chat.

She said that earlier, they’d been to a fast-food restaurant with a nice playground which had been busy, busy while they were there. As families came and went, the playground population ebbed and flowed, and with every change in families, children said good-bye to old-and-new friends and hello to others. And as kids re-grouped, they found ways to work and play together.

“I see that they’re doing that here,” she said. Within an hour, most of the children who’d been at the playground when we arrived had left, being replaced with all new groups. Some kids worked and played together on one of the larger play structures. Others raced from one play structure to another, spending just a few minutes at one space, and then leaping up and streaking off to another one.

And we agreed that they are a far better example of getting along and working together than lots of adults we know.

Yesterday, I took Peter back to Fort Worth. His plan was that we would go to Central Market, do a little shopping, and get some lunch (a peanut butter sandwich and a salad) and then he could spend time on their playground. The day was delightful, and that is what we did. At any given moment, there were a dozen or so kids, racing from one apparatus to another, taking turns, planning, working together, and getting along.

But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part.

Ephesians 4:15 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

And speaking of growing . . .