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Sunday, January 25
stepping out
The Adkins kids have all been late walkers, and that's perfectly fine with me — the slower they are, the easier it is for me to pretend I don't have the cardiac health of a catatonic lab rat. Plus, they're way ahead of schedule in so many other vital subjects, such as Perfectly-Timed Sarcasm and Clever Ways to Feign Adorable Innocence. Mother is proud.
Katy Claire's been taking her first tentative steps lately, and over the last few weeks, I've noticed she tries to walk more on Sundays at church than anywhere else. Perhaps it's the unfamiliar surroundings there, or some sort of toddler peer pressure. Or maybe it's just a bigger audience — more people to ooh and ahh over her magically advancing feet. Whatever it is, it's not present at our home; here, she crawls quite comfortably amongst her conventional places and things, dropping on all fours immediately as if to say YOU PEOPLE ARE NOT WORTH THE RISK.
So often my spiritual life is like that, saving my steps of growth and change for the show — for moments when people are watching and celebrating my spiritual success. I do not often appreciate the quiet, private, patient transformation of the Spirit, where He alone is my portion and my prize.
So instead, God will keep moving my boundaries — stripping my comforts and calling me out into unfamiliar places — so that in His mercy I might stagger on to faith.
Katy Claire's been taking her first tentative steps lately, and over the last few weeks, I've noticed she tries to walk more on Sundays at church than anywhere else. Perhaps it's the unfamiliar surroundings there, or some sort of toddler peer pressure. Or maybe it's just a bigger audience — more people to ooh and ahh over her magically advancing feet. Whatever it is, it's not present at our home; here, she crawls quite comfortably amongst her conventional places and things, dropping on all fours immediately as if to say YOU PEOPLE ARE NOT WORTH THE RISK.
So often my spiritual life is like that, saving my steps of growth and change for the show — for moments when people are watching and celebrating my spiritual success. I do not often appreciate the quiet, private, patient transformation of the Spirit, where He alone is my portion and my prize.
So instead, God will keep moving my boundaries — stripping my comforts and calling me out into unfamiliar places — so that in His mercy I might stagger on to faith.
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You always make me think.
She walks @ church because she's a part of the best children's program in the country!!! We help kids cross all kinds of developmental hurtles in our few short hours together on Sunday mornings. Tips accepted.