The other night, we were on the square in Covington hearing a little Gospel Music (my personal favorite thing to do)!!  After unpacking three kids out of the truck, shuffling them over to the grass, laying out the blanket and instructing the two big kids to dance and have a good time, Macie found three boys to play with.  They were her age - one was probably 5 and the other probably 7, and then there was a teenage boy  - the leader, calling the shots!  I watched as the boys did what boys do - roll around on the ground immediately after one throws an oddly shaped ball - some would call this football.  Then, I observed my sweet Macie, who didn't know that she wasn't a boy - she followed everything the boys did - she was running when Dillon said run, far when he said far and short when he said short. Everytime he threw - she reached up to catch.  She even looked up at me and said "Mom, I'm really good at it!!"  Every now and again he would look over and give a bit of a smirk b/c he was aware of something she wasn't.

  SHE WASN'T REALLY IN THE GAME 

She watched and hung around long enough to figure out what to do - the right moves, how fast, how slow and the proper positions - but she wasn't really in the game.  Nobody was throwing her the ball or playing with her.  She just had on her game face and was pretending, and the "leader" was looking at her with dismay.  He could see her intentions and that she was confused - she really did think she was playing, but she hadn't asked to be in the game.  She didn't know the leader or the other players other than what she had observed over a few minutes of them playing together. 

It made me wonder how many people sitting in church are doing the exact same thing - following the other cool kids, making all the "right moves", doing everything the "leader" says b/c they think it might make them seem like they are "good at it!" I've been there - I've "played church" before and it left me totally unfulfilled.  My prayer to you is that you quit pretending and become a key player - the one who not only plays but meets with the Coach every night for extra instruction and coaching.