This morning, I left my house at 6:05. After much driving, walking, siting, riding, walking, shuffling, standing and sitting, I found my way back to my house by 9:51. Only this time, my feet are not on the ground. I am at the same spot on earth, but my perspective has drastically changed.
It was a little disturbing to think about all the traveling that I had already done this morning: a twenty minute car ride, a ninty minute train ride, a ten minute shuttle ride, and twenty minutes of a plane flight. All of that just to get me right back to where I began--it seems foolish and a little wasteful.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9
But, it was necessary, of course. I do not have an airplane in my driveway, nor would my cul-de-sac work well as a runway. For me to be on the path I currently am on (to visit my best friend who lives on the other side of the country), I needed to take those seemingly wasteful steps. That was a necessary part of my journey.
As I go about my work of raising little royalty, some days feel like wasteful steps. I wish that I could go straight from point A to point B, without traveling through point C (and D and E and F...) first. Some days, I wish I could help Noah move from cutesy Bible story pictures to real faith in his Savior, without first going through years of life experiences. Some days, I wish I could move Zeke's use of his strength from harmful to helpful, without first needing to coach him on how to control that strength often throughout each day.
It helps me to remember that each little step that I take with those boys is not wasted. Those little steps that seem backward at times, in time, will enable them to achieve a perspective that would not have been possible otherwise. This "growing up" is a necessary part of their journey.
Theirs is a journey in which Dave and I have the privilege of participation.
So no matter how many times I have to say, "Were you talking to God or just loudly saying words?" or "Hands are not for hitting," it is critical for my attitude that I remember the journey that these boys are on. Even more critical is that I never fail to point them in the direction of their ultimate destination.
Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior. Psalm 25:4-5
