Out of the Mouth/Actions of Babes: Challenges

I escorted the kiddos to the park one afternoon last week, and while they didn't say anything that struck me as particularly profound, Tiny did something I couldn't forget.

That child is an absolute daredevil.  Not even two years old and I could barely keep up with her, climbing steps, ladders and structures way beyond her years.  As Bubba said, "she thinks she is big like me and can do anything I can do."

Needless to say I kept a close eye, and shadowed her every move to make certain she got back to mom in one piece.  At one playground there were two slides she loved, both that ended far too high off the ground for a kidlet of her size.  At first she looked over the edge, and accepted my assistance in getting down - but eventually she figured out how to manage it herself.
I found her method quite curious.

She leaned back and lay down flat on the slide, then slowly slid off the edge, arching her back and pointing her toes, until when her neck and shoulders finally did completely slide off the edge, her feet were just inches from the ground.  The insurmountable barrier had been breached.  I watched her do this repeatedly.  And marveled at the massive ingenuity in that tiny mind.

And then I thought about how it could be applied to my life.

How often do I come upon a challenge, look over the edge, and let the distance, and my fears, keep me from believing it is something I can tackle on my own?  I look to the Lord to pick me up and set me down, or hold my hand as I jump.  And that is all well and good, but sometimes I think life, and Heavenly Father, expect more of us.  He expects us to do ALL that we can do on our own, first.  To lay down flat, arch our backs, and stretch our toes out as far as we can stretch.  Sometimes grace makes up the difference, and we feel the ground beneath our feet before we leave the safety of the slide, but sometimes it is required of us to believe, to have faith, that the ground is not too far to find when the slide slips away.  Sometimes in the challenges of life it is expected of us to take a few steps into the dark, and trust that the light will follow...

So thank you Tiny, for the example and reminder to live with less fear, and more faith!