The little girl loved to act.  She loved to play pretend with any and every household prop she could get her hands on.  She loved to use her imagination.  Playing house, school, church, grocery store, and Area 51 were amongst some of her favorites.  And as her Dad would watch her frolic about as mom to secret agent and everything in between, He would smile.  On His face and in His heart, He would smile.

On one fine afternoon after all of the lunch dishes were cleared and cleaned, the Dad beckoned His little girl to follow Him upstairs.

“I have something to show you…” He said as the two of them hiked up the stairs and then up more stairs and into the attic the little girl had only heard about but had never seen.

“Whoooooa, it’s just like the movies,” she thought to herself.

“Over here, My love,” the Dad said as He pointed with His eyes to the wooden antique.

“Whoooooa, it’s definitely just like the movies,” the little girl’s mind repeated as she walked over to the treasure chest.  Lifting up the heavy lid, the little girl’s eyes grew enormous as did her sense of curiosity.  There was so much inside.  She didn’t know where to begin!  She looked at her Dad and then back at the trunk, at her Dad and then back at the trunk.

“What do you see, My dear?” He asked.

“It’s just a bunch of random stuff,” she replied, fanning the remaining dust particles that floated about.

“Look harder.  Dig deeper.  Explore a bit, my dear.  Now, what do you see?”  He asked again, this time following it up with a sip of His coffee.

“I told you, it’s just a bunch of random stuff.  What am I supposed to do with this if I don’t know what half of it is?”

“Well, you could ask Me,” He replied ever so calmly.

A lethal mix of confusion and frustration began to build.  “So You look through this and play by Yourself then,” the almost-always loving little girl retorted as she crossed her arms.

“Oh, My love.  I didn’t bring you up here so that I could play by Myself.  The beauty is in the pair of us, and the memories are made in us playing together.  Now perhaps you don’t think your imagination is big enough for this adventure, but that’s why I am here.  So, tell Me, what do you see?”

The Dad’s voice was so kind and soothing.  The little girl blushed in embarrassment as her disgruntlement dissipated.  She uncrossed her arms and reluctantly started to rummage through the chest, listing off the things she saw.

“I see frayed heart strings and waning vision.  I see a jack-of-all-trades in here but not a master of any.  There are also a lot of non-preferable jobs and deflated bank accounts and shallow conversations, oh, and question marks.  Indeed, there are a lot of question marks.  Not to mention, everything is covered in a thick layer of readjustment.”

“Good, good, let’s begin with those.”

“These?” she asked, unable to mask her mistrust.

“You heard Me.  Now bring them over here and lay them out in front of Me and watch what we can make of them together.”

So she listened and obeyed, and with that and with those, they began to play real life.  They played house, dance studio, church, coffee shop, and New York.  And the whole time the Dad played with His little girl, He smiled.  On His face and in His heart, He smiled.

And in the still and quiet moments of real life when the little girl stopped long enough to see her Dad smile, she’d smile too, knowing that no matter how much of a mess and mystery her treasure chest was, her Dad would make it work.