Daddy and Hads had stuff to do yesterday so I took Lands on a walk. We didn’t even get 3 minutes into our walk before she started pulling at her seat belt straps and saying, “I wanna walk.” I just giggled at her and kept walking. I took her by a neighbor’s yard that had these flowers growing all over the length of their fence, but she wasn’t as impressed as I hoped she’d be.

Notice the feisty face.

Then I walked her by another neighbor’s gorgeous yard and we literally stopped and smelled the roses. Again, not as impressed as I had hoped.

I had taken this creative path for her because I wanted her to enjoy it and she was too preoccupied with not being in charge. “I wanna walk!” She wanted the freedom to go where she wanted and when she wanted.

Then I got it.

Jesus loves to use my kids to teach me.

Jon-Michael and I are on an adventure right now. We are making big, scary, faith decisions (We aren’t ready to announce yet, but will when it’s time) and I have been telling God that “I wanna walk.” He isn’t moving as quickly as I would like and you know, He might just need me to help Him! 😉 Kidding.

He is leading us and all we have to do is sit back and enjoy where He takes us. It really is that simple. Lands was in a big ‘ole hurry to get out of her stroller and go where she wanted to go. If I would have let her, she would have actually made the trip take even longer. If we don’t trust God on our journey, we will get ourselves lost and delay getting to our destination. Perfect example: The Israelites in the wilderness.

There are treasures all along the way too if we will see them.

Here are the “treasures” that Lands and I found yesterday. The poinsettia is my favorite.

She finally relaxed and waved at every single person that went by us. She had a whole conversation with a wind chime. True story. Then she started to lean forward and point to flowers instead of me trying to make her enjoy them. My Mama heart welled up and I smiled a big, proud smile.

God is all about the process. He sees the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10) and is extremely concerned with our development between points A and Z. Getting to Z doesn’t matter if we don’t allow Him to develop our character along the way.

When we relax, trust Him and notice the people along our path, His Daddy heart wells up with pride. He might take us down a twisty, turny road that doesn’t make sense to us but there are treasures along every bend and curve.

“There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!” Romans 5:3-5 MSG

Choosing to look for His hidden treasures today.

Love, Tif