Years ago when I was invited to speak at a church to train volunteers, I got picked up by a pastor who brought along his two boys who wanted to meet the man behind Toybox Tales. (ToyboxTales.com) The airport was several hours from the church, so we had lots of time to chat on the drive.

At one point, we saw along the side of the road a Target store that was still under construction. The odd thing was, while the parking lot was complete with stripes and lights, and the store’s sign was up and brightly lit, the building itself still had no roof, and through the holes where windows and doors would go, we could see the floor was still dirt! These boys and I enjoyed a fun-filled conversation imagining what would happen if they stocked the store and opened but forgot to put a floor down or a roof on. Space here does not allow the hysterical scenarios we described!

The next day, after the training was done, the pastor told me that he owed me an apology. I was surprised. He explained that during our long conversation about the roof-less Target store he was frustrated and annoyed because he was thinking to himself, “They would never open a store with no floor or roof!” But since I was a guest, he didn’t say anything. He then proceeded to tell me that the next morning his boys were up and dressed and wanting to come to the volunteer training. When he tried to explain that it was for adults and they couldn’t go, he said they cried and asked if they would ever see me again. He was puzzled by how they had connected with me so strongly until, during my workshop, I explained the power of learning the Language of Imagination.

There is a secret language that children speak in. It is a language that, if learned and mastered, you’ll connect with kids on a level few others do.

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