My husband pushed our 20 month daughter in the stroller, my older two walked, the middle son rode his bike and I had the pleasure of walking with my 3 year old son. This was the highlight of my week, likely the most enjoyable 1/2 hour I've had in a long time.
I loved hearing him talk the entire time. Looking at the world through his eyes, seeing the trees, the flowers, the sky, even a sprinkler watering a parched lawn. He would stop every now and then and pick up a rock, although it looked random to me, I'm sure it was special, in some way to him. As we came across patches of grass that had grown through the sidewalk, he would stop and jump and wait for my approval. "Great jump Sam! You're a good jumper!" He agreed proudly with me.
He heard every noise and would make sure I had heard it too. "Oh! What's that? You heard it mom? Yeah, it's a dog." Nothing escaped his attention. He held my hand for part of the time, the rest he ventured out on his own, not wandering far from me. The few times he ran ahead to his dad, he stopped and looked back to make sure I was following behind. His constant chatter made me smile. It was nothing and yet everything special.
As I reflected on it this morning, I realized how many parallels I could draw from our time to our walk with God. How does God feel when we talk to Him? I imagine He feels absolute joy when we come to Him. So many times we only pray when we need something. I know He loves us and wants us to come to Him and is a very present help in our time of need, but how wonderful to His ears when we just want to chat with our Lord. To tell Him about our day. To ask Him if He heard that noise in our lives. To show Him that we see His creation as wonderful and beautiful. To reach out our hand and want Him to take it. To draw encouragement from Him. We see God as some distant being, too high to reach, too majestic to care, but He's there next to us saying, "I'm here. I'm always here. I love you. Talk to Me."
Sam never once asked me to carry him. If he had, I would have gladly scooped him up in my arms and given his little legs a rest from walking so very far. How many times has God carried us? More times than I care to admit. More times than I actually know.
When should we pray? Always. How should we pray? From our heart. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing. Is this possible? During our walk, Sam barely took a breath before speaking another word. Can we pray that way? To pray with each breath? With God, it is possible. I challenge myself to this goal.
In the meantime, I look forward to more walks with my precious son.
