Meandering

Could I be any worse at keeping up with my personal blog?

Gah.

Truth is, it's been kinda crazy around here.

We bought a house!  And moved.  And unpacked.  Ok, not totally unpacked.  But I'm halfway there.

And there has been a lot of toddler tantrums around here.  A super lot.  So that's exhausting.

I went on a sugar detox and now we are juicing.  In addition to eating - don't worry, I'm not totally crazy.

That's the quick little update.

Anyway - a few days ago I was running errands with the littlest and we were walking from Harris Teeter to Michaels - it was a nice day out, so I put Beckett down to walk and held his hand as we meandered down the sidewalk.  And I do mean meandered.  Dude likes to take his time if he's holding my hand.  At home?  He's a terror on two cute little pigeon toed feet - but if I've told him to hold my hand, he knows he needs to stay in check and he meanders.

Slowly.

So off we went, at a snail's pace, while he checked out every crack in the sidewalk, every piece of dirt or small insect.  He pointed at the cars going by (Bjooo Bjooo...that's how he makes car noises now...I don't know...) I felt myself getting the sliiiightest bit impatient and that's when I had this thought that God probably feels the same way.

He knows where we are headed.  He knows the best/quickest way for us to get there.  But he knows we are going to stop along the way pointing at the shiny things, crouching down to look at things we don't need to look at, or watching things pass us by.  He waits patiently for us to finish the meandering and walk with purpose.

Sometimes it happens quickly - maybe you meander for a short time and then shake yourself off and get to where you need to be.  Sometimes it might take years.  Decades.  A life time.  But still - He is there.  Waiting.  Watching.  Guiding us.  Holding our hand.

I let Beckett stare at every piece of dirt that morning.  We even stopped to sit on every. single. bench lining the walkway of the shopping center we were at.

Because sometimes you have to remember that parenting is a really powerful way to teach us how to be more like Him.  It's humbling when I think of what we try to offer our kids - how much MORE our father in Heaven offers us.  He's patient and understanding...even when we are doing the crazy stuff.

There are so many times in my life that I just...meander.  I coast along, not walking with purpose, not caring about the final destination.  Which is fine in many areas - but not in my walk with God.  I don't want to find myself meandering.  Being distracted by shiny things.  I want to grow and to learn and strengthen what is already there.

But I know that even if I forget - and start to meander - He'll wait patiently for me to get going again.