hold on

Michelle has a knack for coming up with every-day metaphors that have something poignant to teach us about our spiritual lives. there was a point in my life where I would find such pictures rather cheesy, but thankfully I got over that a while ago, and now I love them, and I love that she kind find encouraging things in even the mundane.

last night I stumbled upon one myself. here's the background: we were talking about how it's hard to live faithfully every moment of every day, especially for a stay-at-home mom who deals with chronic pain and fatigue. it's too easy to get caught up in trying to measure up to these lofty ideals, and to look at all you havent done that day, or what you've done wrong, or could have done better. but we remembered that God loves us for who we ARE (which is his children in Jesus), not for what we DO, and we need to respond to that love in faithfulness. of course faithfulness can look like many things during the day: it could just as easily be a nap as a visit to a friend in need. so we need discernment, and that discernment can only come from God's Spirit, to whom we need to pray, without ceasing.

so as we were considering these things, I was reminded of Caleb. we're trying to teach him to walk, and so far he's loving it. he holds our fingers and zooms around the house, or sometimes he'll cruise around with a chair or his walker thingy. but he doesnt want to do it by himself yet, being a generally cautious kid so far. I try to get him to hold on to me with just one hand, but he'll always stop, reach back, look back, and refuse to go forward unless he's holding on with both hands.

and I realized that's what we need to be like: refusing to walk through our days unless we have both our hands holding onto our Lord and Savior, who will faithfully guide us in His ways.