By
Dana Rausch
/ February 15, 2014
Malani and I went for a walk this week.
At 16 months old she is so proud of herself to be walking.
She scurries ahead and puts everything into her little gait.
Sometimes she walks faster than she should and falls. She’s so eager to be ahead that when she turns to make sure I am still behind her, she falters and veers off course.
Her joy at simply walking is contagious. Her little body radiates enthusiasm as she takes one step in front of the other. Sometimes she gets going faster than she should and stumbles, yet gets right back up and keeps going. Like the energizer bunny. She doesn’t want help. She doesn’t want to wait, hold your hand, or be carried. She wants to be free to move. And mostly it’s in front of me.
To see a 16 month old do this is cute……. but NOT a Grandma.
I consider the numerous times I have done this with the Lord:
· I run ahead of him.
· I don’t want his help.
· I fall but pick myself back up.
· I don’t want to wait.
And it generally always gets me into trouble. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27
Follow means: go after, proceed behind, to pursue, move along the course, go in direction, be guided by, accept leadership of, practice, to imitate….
When I am running ahead, I am looking out for ME. I am barreling ahead to pursue my own desires and miss the direction I was meant to go in. I don’t want help. I want to quickly get to where I want to be or achieve what I want to gain, and I think I can do it myself without any help.
I fall and get myself back up to backtrack to where I should have gone. But time and effort has been lost and wasted.I think I know better to what is good for ME. I don’t wait for direction; I just barrel ahead and find myself in a place I was never destined to be in.
While Malani is adorable as she merely learns to navigate in life…. Grandma is not so endearing when she continues to trip when following God. Nevertheless, I am going to pour my whole heart into it!
For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God. Joshua 14:8b
