Sometimes gifts come wrapped up in pretty packages or in envelopes or brown paper boxes. Sometimes they come in smiles and giggles and that feeling you get when you see your two loves enjoying life together.
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| Enjoying the tricycle we gave him for his birthday |
This little boy loves to be outside! Rocks, sticks, pieces of bark...they are all fascinating to him. He loves the freedom of being able to run anywhere in any direction. It is so hard for me when he cries when we have to take him inside again.
He also loves anything with wheels; in fact, he can say, "truck", "tractor" (sort of), and "car". So, we were super excited to be able to take him on a train ride with grandma and grandpa!
It is an interesting process, watching your baby take off without you. Uphill, downhill, tripping over dips in the ground. It struck me as I was letting him run free the other day that we are a lot alike. When Kieran was nearing an area that I knew was somewhat dangerous for him to venture into, I tried to turn him around. Of course, he dug his heels in and tried to pull back to where he wanted to go. Since my first attempt didn't work, I then picked him up and started to carry him away from the danger. Surprise, surprise...this led to squealing and kicking for me to put him down so he could run back to where he wanted to go. After walking a few yards, I told him, "If you want to enjoy your walk with Mama, then you need to walk where I want you to walk. You'll have a lot more fun if you don't waste your time resisting me."
We had to repeat this process a few more times--whether or not he learned anything is still a mystery to me, but he did enjoy walking with me in between his distractions. I realized that this is exactly what I do with my Daddy. I like to walk with Him when He leads me where I want to go. But I get so easily distracted by the things that I desire that I run ahead of him. It's no surprise that I stumble and fall. And when I cry out to God, I seem surprised that He was right there the whole time. I am the one who let go of His hand. I am the one who thought I saw something better and, like Eve, thought God was withholding something good from me. I am the one who runs back when the thing is not good and says, "God, where were you in that?" And I am the one who so easily forgets the joy of walking with my Father.
Sometimes, I just need a little reminder.
