frolic, romp, carouse, dance, cavort, triumph

All synonyms for PLAY.  My dear friend Kathleen knows how to play and play well and because she knows, she encourages others to play. She has an entire blog dedicated to playing!  Neoteny. She knows what a huge difference it can make in your life and she purposes to play, decides to play, chooses to play.  I adore playing!  In fact, playing inevitably leads to laughter and laughing is one of my favorite things to do.  So why don't I play more?  Well I'll tell you why.  I don't play more because I have trouble finding a way to integrate play into my everyday life.  I always WANT to play but then the things that I feel I HAVE to do get in the way of the playing and for some reason I can't meld the two.  So as I was studying yesterday I was trying to be all crafty and make cute fun things for moms on Mother's day and I clicked on to the thesaurus and entered "PLAY".  What I found may just change my life. - and may I at this time add a disclaimer because I am not a semanticist, an etymologist, a linguist or a theologian....but what I learned may be of interest to you too.  The word play has a lot of synonyms and they sound like they would be, for example frolic... frolic just sounds fun... I picture hopping through a field of daisies and giggling.  And then there is carouse and cavort well those just sound like naughty fun... you know like playing a silly prank on someone. There is dance and twirl...again just thinking of those words puts a smile on my face.  And then there is REJOICE.  Rejoice is a synonym for play.  Now THAT is what could change my world.   Last night I pulled out my Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, it's a huge red book that's a good eh? 3 inches thick.  I got it at the Goodwill some 15 years ago...for 6.99!  Anyway, the name and date scrawled in the front cover says 1971...it's an older version, regardless, when I counted up the number times the word rejoice was listed with reference I found almost 200.  And that was just rejoice.  It does not include rejoiced, rejoicest, rejoiceth and rejoicing.  And here is what I began to wonder...
What if God told me to play?  What if God wanted me to play?
What if God told YOU to play?  What if God wanted YOU to play?

PSALM 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us PLAY and be glad in it. 
ISAIAH 61:10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul PLAYS in my God.  For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 
JOHN 16:22 so with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will PLAY, and no one will take away your joy. 
ROMANS 12:15 PLAY with those who PLAY
PHILIPPIANS 4:4 PLAY in the Lord always.  I will say it again; PLAY! 
1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18 PLAY always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  


So decide to play.  Life is too short to be too serious...