The Fun-Finder Book: It's a God Thing! (Paperback)

Chapter One

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

When you think of hobbies, you may think of a kid poring over his stamp collection or a girl holding up the lunch line while she's looking through her change for that state quarter she's been trying to find for her display. And you may think, "Uh, no thanks-I have better things to do."

First of all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with stamp or coin collecting, and anybody who makes fun of a collector is being pretty narrow-minded. Why can't a person spend her leisure time in any healthy way she wants? It's so much better than vegging in front of the television 24/7!

Besides, hobbies are more than stamps and coins. Take a look at the kinds of hobbies the Girlz have found.

Reni is a collector. She's serious about perfecting her violin playing and making good grades. So collecting old kids' series books like Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins from used bookstores and yard sales-and, of course, reading them-gives her a relaxing distraction from all the hard work she does. After all, a girl can't be intense all the time.

Kresha is an observer. Her family doesn't have a lot of money, so her hobby is watching people and collecting her observations about them in a notebook. Whenever she's in the doctor's office waiting room waiting for her mom or standing in line at the school water fountain, her eyes are watching and her brain is rolling. One of the best parts is-it costs nothing!

Suzy goes for sports hobbies. She plays soccer and does gymnastics as after-school activities, but her hobby is playing Ping-Pong at home. It helps her to play for fun, instead of always having to be competitive.

Zooey has discovered that she likes outdoor hobbies. Her creative outlet (the kind of thing we talked about in The Creativity Book) is scrapbooking, but her hobby is hiking, especially when she does it with friends and makes it a different adventure every time. She was surprised that she liked it so much-but now there's no stopping her! It makes her feel free and gives her energy.

And then there's Lily. Wouldn't you know that she wouldn't fall into a category? Like a lot of people, she has created an unusual hobby. Right now, she's becoming an expert on the medieval period-reading everything she can get her hands on, building a model of a medieval castle, designing her own medieval costumes. Once she masters that era, she might move on to the Renaissance, or she might decide to become an expert on a particular artist, like Picasso, or read all the books written by a certain author. After all, she points out, the possibilities are endless!

So what is a hobby, exactly?

It's an activity you do in your spare time. (Your math class can't be your hobby-like you'd want it to be, right?)

It's something you enjoy doing.

It's something you do just for fun.

It's something you find relaxing (rather than something that complicates your life and freaks you out more!).

It's something you see as a change from the routine of your day (no one's supervising you, no one's telling you you're doing it wrong, there are no rules, that kind of thing).

Besides the fact that a hobby is fun, it can do a lot for you.

It can lighten you up if you tend to be hard-driving and serious about your schoolwork and other activities.

It can expand some talents you didn't even know you had-like your eye for details or your knack for organizing.

It can keep you from making everything a competition (because not everything is!).

It can let you discover things you never really thought you'd enjoy because you didn't think you were good at them (and you don't have to be!).

It can challenge your mind in fun ways. You'll probably even start doing better in school as a result of being involved in some hobby.

How Is This a GOD THING?

Usually when we're thinking about how something is a God thing, we go straight to the Bible. But that plan isn't so easy this time, and here's why.

Until at least the late 1800s-which is not so very long ago in the grand scheme of things-only rich people had leisure time. Most of the biblical characters sure didn't-they were too busy growing food, making cloth for clothes, carrying water, and doing everything else they had to do to survive. Without all the conveniences we have, like microwaves, washing machines and dryers, and cars, they had to do everything from scratch, and that barely left them time to sleep, let alone collect stamps-which they didn't have anyway.

So the Bible doesn't tell us anything in particular about hobbies. In fact, there are plenty of verses that speak out against idleness. When those verses were written, it was practically a crime if you weren't working dawn to dusk. Just take a look at these Proverbs!

As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed. Proverbs 26:14

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. Proverbs 6:10-11

He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son. Proverbs 10:5

Does that mean we should be working our little selves every minute, so that we don't have time for hobbies? Nah. As we've said, the folks in the Bible lived in a time when they had to work constantly just to survive. Only those who were wealthy and had servants could afford to indulge in hobbies. The ones in that group that God seemed to smile on were those who used their leisure time activities for his glory. That would mean that he wasn't too crazy about Herod's hobby of collecting dancing girls. But David was another story.

Harp playing was definitely a hobby for David, even when he was a kid. It was something he did while he was tending sheep, probably to relieve the boredom. (Tending sheep can be a real snooze!) He obviously practiced and played enough to get really good at it, because he was ready when Saul sent for him to soothe away his evil spirits. Later, when he was king, David celebrated the arrival of the ark of the covenant in Jerusalem by jamming on his harp. He probably also had the harp on hand when he sang his song of praise to the Lord in 2 Samuel 22:2-51. David was also a poet. He had enough leisure time to develop that hobby, and you can read his work in 2 Samuel 1:19-27 and in many of the psalms.

Even reading one psalm shows that not only did David enjoy his hobbies-can't you see him setting some of them to music?-but he also used them to glorify God. That kind of thing definitely makes God happy.

Does that mean if you have a hobby it has to be directly connected to God? Yes-but don't worry about that, because all good things are already connected to God! "Everything God created is good," Paul writes in his letter to Timothy, "and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving" (1 Timothy 4:4).

If you follow the example of Jesus, you can't go wrong. Though he didn't have hobbies (he, unlike you, didn't have time), he did often go off by himself to get refreshed for his demanding schedule. (If you want to see an example, you can go to Matthew 14:23.) Do the same-and use some of that time for things you enjoy that are going to help you become the person God intends for you to be.

Something a Little Different

That's probably as much as the Bible tells us about hobby time, so in the following chapters, you won't see the "It's a God Thing" section. But we will definitely be looking to God for guidance along the way-always, right?