Last week Kate and I were enjoying the beautiful summer day in the park near our home. She had tired of the playground and so we wandered down the hill to the baseball field. I decided to see if she would chase me as I jogged around the bases.
She did...slowly.
While I was standing on third base watching her chubby legs try to catch up, I caught a glimpse of the footprints we had left in the gravel.
Kate's footprints started and ended at the same spots as mine - the bases. Inbetween the bases however was a different story. Compared to my relatively straight line hers made a large arc toward the pitcher's mound and then swerved around back and forth until she reached the base.
I thought that this may be a little preview of watching her grow up. I desire a certain course or plan for Kate's life and will do what I can to lay it out in front of her by teaching her, giving her advice, being an example, disciplining her, etc. I don't mean that I am choosing today to mold her into a future doctor or astronaut or beauty queen ;)...although I'm pretty convinced she's going to be some kind of scientist. What I do mean is that I want her to be happy, to avoid certain pitfalls, to be successful, and most of all to love God with all of her heart, soul, and mind.
What the footprints told me is that no matter how hard I try, I cannot choose for her what path she takes. She is likely going to veer off a little every now and then and do things her own way. I have to let her be her own person and make her own path. But in the end she will make it to the base and triumphantly stand on top of it.
Did you know that God does the same thing? He has a plan for our lives and desires for us too. And he gives us the freedom to live out our own lives, to make choices, to learn from our mistakes.
I can't say with 100% confidence that if Kate followed the course that I made for her, her life would be perfect, because I am not perfect.
I can say with confidence that if we follow the course that God made for our lives, and the closer the better, our lives will be perfect because of our obedience. God doesn't promise easy, but if we follow his footprints we cannot go wrong.
