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  • Writer's picturekimstanfield

Dress Ups!




Who as a child remembers doing this?


Pulling out discarded outfits from a box or basket that helped us with the most amazing ‘make believe’ possibilities ever!


As a child I was always fascinated with the hats my mum wore to church (it was a staple in the era I grew up) and of course with every new outfit my mum sewed us to wear to church as children, there was always a matching hat!


In the dress up box my sisters and I got to play with, I remember there being a long satin slip and sparkly flats (see notation below) that were always the first ‘go to’ for any of us, then adding whatever else went with the look we were trying to create.


Note: My mum and dad went to the mission field in the early years of her marriage and because there were no curtains on her windows where she lived, I believe she used her wedding dress to amend that issue!  So the satin slip in our dress up box was all that was left of her wedding dress for us to play with and the sparkly flats I believe were shoes from a brides maid outfit she wore one time.


My adult children (and their adult friends recreated a ‘dress up’ picture from their childhood below –shame I can’t find the original when younger) and grandchildren now, also enjoy the same, finding and fighting over the item that of course they all must have to make the playtime work best!





What is it I wonder about us needing to fashion ourselves to resemble others or make ourselves out to be something else?


I know that imagination play is good for kids, and it is lots of fun… the dictionary describes it as ‘the ability of the mind to be creative or resourceful’ or ‘the action of forming new ideas, images, concepts not present to the senses’.

 

It fosters creativity by providing a safe space for children to act out scenarios of their choosing, including situations that they may not be able to experience in real life. For example, a 5-year-old who cannot go to a restaurant without her parents can, through imaginative play with her friend, create a pretend tea party they can both enjoy at home. It also gives children opportunities to learn about other people’s perspectives…


My granddaughter and I have enjoyed many tea parties together over the years and just recently we enjoyed going out together, along with her Mum and Aunty for a very elegant High Tea and for a six year old she showed her best manners – so very proud of her!


The human imagination is not only a great gift of God; it is also an aspect of the image of God. His creative imagination is such that he created the universe from nothing. His mind perceives the past, the present, and the future. And his Word—in its concreteness, in its figurative and descriptive language, and in the way it addresses the reader’s imagination—shows that God himself imagines.


Imagination makes possible empathy, the ability to assume the perspective of someone else. This allows us to “rejoice with those who rejoice,” and to “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12: 15). Jesus is also calling for an imaginative act when he tells us “you shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).


If our imagination is not only a great gift of God but is also an aspect of the image of God – then how does He desire for us to best use it for him?

‘Sanctifying your Imagination’

‘Seeing with the eyes of our Heart’

‘Redeem our imagination for God’

‘Imaging the word of God over our life’

 

Quotes from Ps David Storer - Kingdomcity ‘Hope is your Future’


We enjoy being part of an International Church called Kingdomcity and one of the staff Ps David Storer, shares great points like above on how to use our imagination!


And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your being] may be enlightened [flooded with light by the Holy Spirit], so that you will know and cherish the hope [the divine guarantee, the confident expectation] to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints (God’s people), - Eph 1:18 AMP


I am currently sitting at home feeling rather miserable, clothed in a current bout of Covid which is not making me feel great about myself but if I take hold of what is shared above, I need to see what God sees for me once I am over this bout of sickness.  See with my God infused imagination on the good God has stored up for me…


How great is Your goodness,Which You have stored up for those who [reverently] fear You,Which You have prepared for those who take refuge in You,[a]Before the sons of man! – Ps 31:19 AMP


Yes Lord, I am believing for your very best for me and I am ‘imagining’ once again being able to stand in front of the mirror, do my hair, put on lip gloss and step out as the woman of God you have called me to be for this season.  Strengthened in your grace, beauty and wholeness, to be there for others to come to know you, Lord Jesus.




AMEN!

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