icy patch

(originally posted 2/11/08)

As often as I can, I try to do my grocery shopping on Friday mornings because Brandon has Friday's off and so, if I want, I can go grocery shopping by myself! But also from time to time I try to take  one of the boys with me. It's fun to spend that time with just one of them and plus whoever goes usually gets to pick out a new toy! It's a fun little thing that they enjoy and so do I! This past Friday it was Ashtyn's turn to go with mom and so we loaded up early that morning and headed to Wal-Mart. It had snowed on Thursday and so there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground and even some ice too. When we got out of the car at Wal-Mart and began walking across the parking lot I told Ashtyn to walk carefully because I could tell that some spots on the ground were still pretty icy and slick. As we approached a particular patch of ice I gripped Ashtyn's hand tight in mine. As we crossed the icy patch it struck me...Ashtyn never squeezed my hand or held on to me tighter. Why, I wondered? I didn't have much time to think about it but the Lord spoke to me in that split second as we walked through the doors of Wal-Mart.

Lesson Learned? I was protecting Ashtyn, my son, and he trusted me. As the adult and parent, I saw the icy patch from quite a distance away. Ashtyn was blissfully unaware of any form of danger or uncertainty approaching but I was on the lookout and knew ahead of time that Ash might have a hard time crossing the ice, thus me holding a tighter grip on his hand as we began to cross the ice. At the same time Ashtyn didn't think twice about crossing the ice with his mom. He didn't protest or whine that he "couldn't do it" he just held my hand and trusted me. He didn't even feel the need to hang onto me any tighter than he was before. In fact, he didn't have a reason NOT to trust me. Without a second thought, he walked confidently over the ice and into Wal-Mart! This can be totally related to our relationship with Christ. Sometimes, we as God's children, spend so much time looking ahead for the "ice" in our lives that we don't live our lives to their full potential and worse we don't allow God to do His job. God can see what is up ahead and He will take care of us. He will hold us closer when need be and He will tell us to walk carefully when we need to. Think about it, we have NO REASON to doubt that God is looking out for us so why do we? Has He EVER let you down? Has He EVER let you slip on the ice? We should trust like a child. Trust like Ashtyn did that icy morning. He was just enjoying his day, imagining things like dinosaurs and Star Wars and never once thinking that today might be the day mom lets him fall. Trust God. Trust that He can see what's ahead and live in your own world. Imagine your day away...daydream...who knows, maybe you'll get a new toy out of the deal!!!