Everything Just Stopped

My son was five when he played his first soccer game. The parents (me included) lined the field and cheered on our young kids. Watching a group of five year olds play soccer is unbelievable. They really don’t understand the rules of the game yet. The kids just love to kick the ball. There is pure chaos on the field, kids running this way and that. The ball might be kicked into the goal, but it’s more likely to be kicked into the parents on the sidelines. One memorable spring day a frog was discovered on the field. The game came to a complete halt, as all the five year olds on both teams had to examine and touch the frog. After the frog hopped off, the game picked back up where it had left off. It’s beautiful how kids live in the moment, they don’t care about the score or that the clock is running. They want to stop and examine anything and everything that look interesting. There is always that one kid who’s too busy picking flowers for his mom or watching a butterfly to pass the ball. If only we all can be a little more like that, purely in the moment. I can’t remember the score of that memorable spring game, but I’ll never forget the wonders of a frog on the field and how everything just stopped.