Yesterday my youngest turned four. He is a constant joy to our whole family, full of mischief and love and big feelings and silliness. We all pile onto his bed at night to read him stories, he tags along to his siblings’ sporting events and is a pro sideliner, and he melts our hearts regularly.
My kids love their birthdays, and I love celebrating them (well, and really I love celebrating just about anything)! For the nearly thirteen years I’ve been a parent, I have thrown amazing birthday parties. I’m not shy about saying it’s a gift I have – the gift of planning a party that walks a thin line between over-the-top and casual fun. Themes in the past have included a Bob the Tomato VeggieTales party and a hamburger party (yep, hamburgers were the theme). I’ve made a from-scratch standing doll cake for a princess party, wiggly blue jello ‘ice blocks’ for a Frozen theme, and a three-foot sub sandwich waiting inside for the ‘players’ after they ran football drills in the snow. I’ve created an entire party themed around hairbows, one for the color pink, and one all about horses (complete with horsey snacks like carrot sticks and apple slices). One year a unicorn party involved a ring toss game with an inflatable unicorn horn that one bold uncle donned.
The themes have evolved and grown up as my kids have done the same, and this year with a couple of tweens and an official teen they will be the most mature yet (we’re looking at a Vikings football party, a Taylor Swift party, and a spa party). But my newly turned four-year-old continues to keep us all in the moment in the way only a toddler can do.
Because his birthday party theme this year?
Pickles.
That’s right. My guy had a million options he shared during the three months he realized his birthday was coming up (awareness of time isn’t exactly the skill set of a toddler). He considered characters like Paw Patrol, orange – his favorite color, dinosaurs, and other things he currently loves. But when he landed on the idea of a pickle party, we were all so tickled that it stuck!
During his party, we will be enjoying pickle pizza, dilly lemonade, giant pickles on a stick, popcorn with optional dill seasoning, and a big green pickle-shaped cake. I’m also thinking of some kind of beanbag game, or maybe pin the pickle to the jar. It will be silly and fun and perfect for him!
Celebrating the silly is something that I love to do. Like, let me in on the obscure thing you adore, and we’ll make it a whole thing. One line in a movie? Let’s say it whenever possible. A favorite 90’s era sitcom? I’ll binge it with you and bring the popcorn. Quilting, a favorite pop star, beloved dog breed? I’m here to recognize the joy it brings you and celebrate it. Why?
Because experiencing pure delight in the things we’re hardwired to love is worth leaning into – whether or not it makes sense to anyone else.
For instance, nothing makes sense about my deep love of our Minnesota State Fair. I hate crowds. (and between 150,000-250,000 people attend each day. Over 1.9 million people this year!). I hate hot weather (and it takes place over the twelve days before Labor Day – likely our hottest days of the year). I do not prefer operating on whims and without a plan (and we twist and turn our way through hundreds of acres of fairgrounds, being led fully by whims). My stomach hurts if I look at a new food (and we sample ev.ery.thing at the fair, from mini-donuts to milkshakes, corndogs to walleye bites).
Yet our annual State Fair day brings Christmas-morning-level excitement and joy to my heart. Each year, it’s just us and a couple hundred thousand others gathered at the Great Minnesota Get-together, testing out tractors and each other’s patience.
This year we spent 13 hours walking over 18,000 steps and 7+ miles. We tried new foods and savored old favorites. We pushed the stroller through crowds and celebrated our beloved state, beaming every time I felt camaraderie and group bonding over the DNR building and Miracle of Birth Center and the intricate handcrafts on display and buckets of cookies and old church dining halls and gigantic pumpkins and big Minnesota love. We had such a great day at the fair that, for the first time, we surprised our kids with a second day and had just as much fun doing entirely different things!
Between the fair and my youngest’s pickle birthday theme, it occurred to me that maybe the things we love most don’t have to make sense. Maybe the silly things we adore are actually sacred.
Maybe the things we love can just make us really happy. Period. And maybe it’s by design that they do.
Would the leaves have to change color in the fall? Probably not, but it absolutely delights my soul that they do. Would zebras have to be striped? I don’t think so, and they are one of my kids’ favorite animals. Would delicious, complex, and beautiful fictional worlds have to exist? No, and yet the way in which our favorite characters and series impact our lives is wonderful.
What about music? Choral arrangements and marching bands and jazz ensembles? All interpreting the same notes in wildly differing ways to the sheer delight of audiences.
Cool water on a hot summer day. Best friends, sharing lives and hearts. The fact that no snowflake is exactly like another. A perfect strawberry, bursting with ripe flavor.
There are just-for-joy creations, designed by the Creator for the pleasure of His favorite of all — you. And you know what? He takes even deeper delight in who you are.
“The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17 NIV
As you go about your day, I hope you seek and find glory in the everyday, the small, the just-for-you treasures. I hope you tuck away in your heart and know in your bones that the One who created constellations of twinkling stars and coral expanses under sparkling oceans loves and delights in you, just as you are. And may this be the lens through which we view one another — beloved, delighted in, adored.
Love this: “Experiencing pure delight in the things we’re hardwired to love is worth leaning into – whether or not it makes sense to anyone else.”
Maybe it’s because I’m a fellow Enneagram 4/5 and think deeply about every single facet of my life, but I love this. I’m always trying to “make sense of” the many different things I love that often seem at odds with one another. And yet always wanting to always be my truest authentic self…even if that changes from season to season to moment to moment. How can I love classical music and also love hard rock. Or how can I enjoy the country and also the city, both so much. This has me (and has had me) thinking about so much in my life lately. Coming to freedom with the many different parts that I am. Love love love this, Anna.
Yes! This was amazing. Exactly what my heart needed this morning! And now I want to go eat a pickle lol.
Anna, the pickle party makes me SO HAPPY!! (And I don’t even like pickles. lol) All the yeses to God delighting in our delight. He is the God of specifics, of details, of beauty and joy and love – and surely we are made in His image.
Anna,
Thank you for the reminder to Delight in all God‘s gifts!
Sending you autumn joy
Lisa
Absolutely love your party planning ideas!! I thank God for the silly that brings us so much joy!!
What a delightful devotional! I’m so thankful that God created me to take delight in things that are unique to me. As I type my comment I’m looking out at a tree that has started to show signs of autumn. It delights me that there are playful yellow leaves peeking out from under the green ones. And don’t get me started in the brilliant sunsets that I have seen in my own backyard, or the butterflies that land on the flowers I planted last spring. Speaking of flowers, my camera roll is full of flower photos. I especially delight in the magnolias that bloom every summer. Each day there are so many opportunities to take delight in the everyday moments!
Anna,
Thanks so much for your lighthearted glimpse into your beautifully full life and how you and your family rejoice in God’s delights!
… I actually threw a pickle-tasting party for one of my birthdays (14, maybe?), since one of my friend groups had been discussing things like “what do bread and butter pickles even taste like?” – most families had their One Pickle but we were all either vaguely or very aware that there were other pickles out there. Everyone brought a jar of a different kind of pickles and we went to town on them. (thank God for teenage digestions that can handle that many pickles without them causing a pile of nightmares!)
(the rest of the party was not pickle-themed, but I can recommend taste-testing something no one’s got a ton invested in as a very good “mixing” activity!)(not a ton invested: no one will melt down if someone ranks item A way above item B; don’t do this with heirloom recipes or other emotional-connection things unless everyone, no matter what their date-of-birth-age is, has the emotional maturity to be able to handle their grandma’s sugar cookies losing)
I love that God gives us so many good things! I hope we bring God joy by who we’re becoming!
Anna,
I so enjoyed your writing and then decided to listen as well to your recording. Today, I am struggling with my relationship with Time and with The Lord.
Time means to me: aging, deadlines, stopping bad attitudes, frustration, giving up, but hardly ever delight.
Thank you for this amazing post, because I need to embrace The Lord has given me time, time to live, time to enjoy, time to seek Him, time to listen to a podcast, time to listen to someone else’s experience of time.
Time is precious. Time is a gift. Time doesn’t have to mean anything except enjoyment.
Just beautiful!
Blessings and a heartfelt hug,
Ginger
Thanks for sharing your joy in what brings you joy! I call those special things we enjoy secret treasures from the Lord. We know when it’s a special treasure from Him, and let’s treasure our treasures! They are sacred!
Anna love all you spoke on in today’s devotional for incourage. What you said about Veggie tail parties. Through them you were getting in a nice fun way the word of God into your kids. I don’t have kids. Not brave enough to have any. But have Niece’s and Nephews in my sister’s Family’s to spoil. I am Married 31 years in June past this year. If God wanted us to have kids me and my Husband we would have had them. We are just happy the two of us. We are both saved. I was a Registered Childminder for 19 years. I looked after kids who had Parents who were not saved but for one we boy who had Parents that were Filipino and saved. So I used to put on in a nice way when Childminding so as not to sound pushy to the kids. That their Parents would give of to me that were not saved for trying as the sayings goes putting my beliefs on to their kids. I put on my phone nice kids Bible songs for them to listen to that they enjoyed. Plus Psalty the Singing Song Book. They loved both of these things. Through this they were learning about Jesus and the Bible stories in fun way that was not pushy. Then their Parents would say nothing. One time I put Psalty the Singing book on for them. It was about loving all People and Kids no matter what colour of skin they have. It made me put on the Kids song also that is good for us as Adults too. That is “Jesus loves all the Children of the world red and yellow black and white” We all are to do the same Kids and Adults too. Psalty the Singing Song the big blue book taught all in nice way that interest kids I look after they be glued to it. I was getting the word of God into them from a young age. So I say when in their teens etc they remember those days and me playing the Children Bible songs to them and also playing Psalty the Singing Song Book to them. All it taught them. One time Psalty the Singing Song Book that big blue book. Was about not being scared that Jesus is with them all the times and he loves them. How not be scared and if they were silly sacrey things they were scared of. How to celebrate not to being scared. Like the title of your reading Anna that is brilliant today. They would say after watching it Jesus say not to be scared. He with me always to take the scary things away and fill it with nice things and his love. Put the other Psalty one about loving all People and Kids no matter what skin colour they have. They not passed any remarks on the we Filipino boy I used to look after that had a different colour skin to them like their white skin they had. So they were learning in a nice way for them as kids. I say Amen to that. Thank you again Anna for writing this devotional and all you said in it. Love Dawn Ferguson-Little Enniskillen Co.Fermanagh N.Ireland. In my prayers you all in incourage. Xx
Hi Anna…………A Pickle Party. Gee……That is really unique especially with a 4 yr. old. It reminded me of all the parties I did for Aron when he was young. Sad they are now as you know, he still has abandoned me. He actually had a surprise party for my now ex-husband, but never anything for me which now even hurts me more that it did before. Jim never helped me with these parties and made sure he wouldn’t be around when they were going on. I am so happy to read your stories about all the things you and your family have done. Friends tell me they don’t like to tell me these types of things for fear of hurting my feelings even more, but I take joy when I hear about them. I don’t get mad or jealous, I am just happy that some people are having fun. I don’t think any of the things you are doing are silly. I still can’t quite figure out how a 4 year old, pick a Pickles Party, but he did and I’m sure you will do a fantastic job with it and take lots of pictures. Thank you Anna. I enjoy all of your writings and I wish you a nice end of the week. The weather here today has been so gloomy. It certainly doesn’t make for great feelings. Take care and keep having those “Silly” parties…………………Betsy Basile
Thank you for this joy-filled devotion, for sharing your parties and pickles and reminding us that there is joy everywhere!