Learning to walk...

Every day you can find videos of babies learning to take their first steps. They, of course, make you smile. To see those precious chubby legs stagger forward evokes memories of our own children taking those first steps that eventually became long walks...walks away from home and into their own lives. Okay - so now the smiles are getting a bit misty. Those first steps were usually TOWARD you. As they get older, their steps seem to carry them away, and let's be honest - that can be hard.

Just as difficult as watching them walk away, can be watching them fall. 

When they are tiny, we might help lift them to their feet, but we also encourage them to try again. What we don't usually do is pick them up and tell them it's okay - that they don't have to walk if they don't want to. No, we help them up and cheer as they stumble forward...because that is love.

Sometimes, a child might need extra support because their legs don't work the way they should. In those times it can be even more painful to watch them struggle with the pain of learning to walk - and more rewarding when they finally overcome. 

So what's all this "walk talk"? 

I am currently learning to watch my own children walk. Those who know me realize I'm NOT talking about toddlers. My children are young adults. And I'm watching them learn to really walk on their own.

To be honest, it can be difficult at times. As they take their first steps, those steps usually carry them away from home...and sometimes they stumble and fall. As a parent, it can be tempting to reach out and grab them so they don't hit the ground, but as many of my friends tell me, you have to let them fall. I've heard so often, "Don't bail them out of the situation." No, my children haven't wound up in jail, but we often bail them out of the problems of life. We hate to see them suffer, but let's be honest, most of us can't afford to "pay the bail" for everything they can find to get into! We want to protect them, but how do you put a bumper pad on life?

I'm also learning another hard lesson. When they fall, it's not necessarily ME that needs to help them up. I'm learning to let them fall and let God catch them instead of trying to do it myself. I can hug and love and definitely pray, but ultimately it is God who will help them back on their feet. 

I keep thinking of something that happened years ago when my son was about 3 or 4 years old, and we went to Walmart to pick up few things. He was probably chattering on about the latest Power Ranger he hoped I'd buy for him. We entered the foyer where they keep the buggies (shopping carts for those up north) and I stepped over to grab a cart. Levi was right behind me and with one hand I pulled the cart which came immediately, not hanging up at all! Miracle! We took a few steps toward the store and I heard a roar, turning just in time to see a van drive through the double doors and slam into the wall next to me. My thoughts went to my son as I whipped around. Where was he? I screamed out his name and frantically looked for him. Somehow, (with an angel's help?) he had wound up past me and inside the entryway of the store. He was safe...and I had NOTHING to do with it. I was RIGHT THERE, but there was nothing I could have done to keep him safe - but God could.

As a parent, it can be hard to realize that as much as you love your child, God loves them more. They are His. He will help them walk...and run the race He has set before them.

I won't claim I have learned this lesson completely. I sit here trying to figure out the best way to help my son deal with his first steps away from home. I watch him stumble and my natural instincts are to reach out and grab him before he hits the ground...but a random thought comes to mind. Babies are built low to the ground. When they fall, they aren't going to fall all that far. What if they didn't start to walk until they were 6 feet tall? That fall will hurt a lot more. In the same way, allowing our children to falter now will be far less painful than having them wait until they are my age. 

My parents have been gone for a long time now, but I guess in lots of ways I'm still learning to walk on my own. No fear - my Father God will lift me up when I fall.

Psalm 37:23-25
The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread.… 

Psalm 94:18
The minute I said, “I’m slipping, I’m falling,”
    your love, God, took hold and held me fast.

How do we get there from here???

The following blog, while written many years ago, still applies today and somehow fits with the previous re-post.

Many years ago, when my husband and I were younger and gas was MUCH cheaper, we'd just go out for a ride to see where we'd end up. Once we wound up at a gas station that had the unique name "Someplace Else". It stuck in my mind because I've had lots of times when I thought I was going in one direction only to find I wound up at "someplace else." 

I guess being slightly ADD, or HD (High Def) has added to this problem. I have to ask my husband on a regular basis how to get started going somewhere. Oh, I don't have difficulty with the places I'm really familiar with, like work and church and the way back home....but places I go to only occasionally, like Meridian or Atlanta or ANYPLACE other than the norm...I have to ask which way I go to get started. He is always patient and tells me something like, "Go like you're going to Laurel..." or "Go past the convention center," or even "Go past the school where you work, but don't turn in there...just keep going straight."  Once I'm on the road, I'm pretty good....make that pretty good if I have a map.

Well, this past week I read a verse from Romans 5 that really caught me off guard. It was talking about hope, something that we could all use a lot of this year! What struck me was the unexpected way you go to get there! Here, see for yourself: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." The emphasis part is mine, cause it is what caught my eye! I never thought of suffering as the road to hope before.

The translation I was reading at the time offered a bit of help. According to this translation, suffering was translated as 'thlipsis' (Strong's) and a further explanation was given that it meant "pressure, oppression, stress, adversity....imagine taking your hand on a stack of loose items and manually compressing them. That is thlipsis, putting a lot of pressure on that which is free and unfettered. Thlipsis is like spiritual bench pressing." Okay, so evidently the first leg of the journey to hope isn't at all what I had imagined...it is difficulty!

That suffering takes us through the next town on our journey - perseverance. This trip is tougher than I'd imagined. Perseverance means endurance....the ability to keep on keeping on. I know from running, one of the hardest parts is building up your endurance, and sometimes it comes down to mind over matter! My mind wants to quit long before my body reaches its limits. Please tell me I'm not alone in this battle. Surely others know what I mean.

The next town we come to on our trip is "character". We've all met some real "characters" in our life, but that's not what this word means. Here it means more strength of convictions. I heard once that "character is who you are in the dark when no one is looking." That's a pretty good definition. I knew that trials helped produce good character in us, but I'd never really thought of it as part of the route to hope.

Finally, we reach our destination...hope. According to Strong's, "hope is not a sense of optimistic outlook or wishful thinking without foundation, but it is the sense of confident expectation based on solid certainty." have you ever met someone who had that hope? I have, and come to think of it, they had all gone through some pretty tough times, yet with God's help, they had endured. They had a character that shines like the sun in the dark places, and no matter what, they had hope. It wasn't some Pollyanna attitude, it was based on what they knew...that no matter what - God is faithful.

This year, I hope you find your way from here to hope. You may not like all the towns you pass through on the way, but trust me - it's worth it. May your years be filled with hope that never fails.

Lost???

I had been listening to a dynamic speaker, Christine Caine , and she was sharing about the lost sheep. She mentioned that we have the wrong idea about the "lost sheep". We get the idea that they are bad! They aren't bad, they are lost! (For this blog, by lost sheep, I am referring not as much to those who have never been a part of the flock as I am to those who are already a part of the body of Christ, but have lost their passion.)

That lost sheep didn't get up one day and decide to separate from the flock. They just put their head down and were eating and when they looked up, everyone was gone! She compared this to people, saying lost people are like that - they didn't intend to get separated from God, but they were busy dealing with bills, trying to get through life, and they were preoccupied. Next thing they knew, they were lost! This immediately brought to mind a field trip I took with our students a few years ago.

We went to a nearby city to visit two different museums with 3 bus-loads of students. It was noisy, fun, and more than a little chaotic. As always when I am with a large group of students, I am on alert. I feel my job is making sure everyone else is safe (and hopefully not terrorizing those around us!)

On this particular field trip one of my students, who is in a wheelchair, was on my bus. Now, there were adults who were helping make sure she got off the bus, strapped into the chair, etc. but for some reason, I felt responsible as well. So, as the other adults lined the children up and got them to the museum, I stayed and helped get my student into her chair. The problem was, none of those working with this student really knew where we were going, and when we looked up - everyone else was gone! We had gotten separated and they were nowhere in sight! We weren't being "bad" or disobedient, we were just busy! We were doing what we were supposed to be doing, but we got separated. The entrance to the museum was NOT where we parked and despite looking everywhere, we couldn't figure out how to get inside!

I left the other adults with my student and sprinted down the sidewalk, around the building, testing every door. Finally, I found someone who could direct me to the entrance (on the OTHER side of the building) and I went back to get the rest. Once we got inside the museum, I found one of the other leaders. They had no idea we had been lost.

As this new year begins, even as believers, I know that we will find times when we feel "lost" - separated from the rest. We get busy and when we look up we wonder where everyone else has gone! I recently had a conversation with a friend where we asked, "What happened?" What happened to our passion? We looked at friends we'd served with years ago who had gone on to great things...and yet here we sat. We had been traveling together for so long, having fun - excited about the journey, but when we stopped, we got separated. We weren't bad. We didn't even decide to separate. We just got busy trying to survive and when we looked up, everyone else was gone! 

There are two groups in this picture...the ones who are lost, and the ones who moved on. At times, I think I've been both. As the "lost" person, I have to look up and realize I have gotten separated; but when I am the person who has moved on, I need to look around and realize, "Wait! We've left someone behind!"

This year...I want to be different. I want to look up. If I have gotten separated, I want to make the effort to catch up; and if I notice that someone is missing, I want to help find them. I want to act as that "sprinter" who can run ahead and find the way and then return to guide the others. I want to find the passion once again.

Luke 15 (MSG)

15 ^1-3 By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.” Their grumbling triggered this story.

^4-7 “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.

Repost from 2014