Let's Walk

"When I was little, my nurse Dibby's cousin had a dog, just a mutt, and the dog was pregnant. I don't know how long dogs are pregnant, but she was due to have her puppies in about a week. She was out in the yard one day and got in the way of the lawn mower and her two hind legs got cut off. They rushed her to the vet and he said, "I can sew her up, or you can put her to sleep if you want, but the puppies are okay. She'll be able to deliver the puppies."

Dibby's cousin said, "Keep her alive."

So the vet sewed up her backside, and over the next week the dog learned to walk. She didn't spend any time worrying, she just learned to walk by taking two steps in the front and flipping up her backside, and then taking two steps and flipping her backside again. She gave birth to six little puppies, all in perfect health. She nursed them and then weaned them. And when they learned to walk, they all walked like her."

As I read this excerpt from the late Gilda Radner's book, It's Always Something, it scared me. Yeah, I know it's funny and all, but it really scared me and made me take a good look at the way I "walk". Am I walking in a way that shows that I know Who is in charge, or do I constantly have to take control of the situation so that we all stay "safe"? Does my walk show my children humility, or does my pride prohibit me from being authentic? Do I promote attitudes of gratitude in my offspring but forget to be thankful myself? Do I talk the talk, but not walk the walk? Because if I do these things, my children may be just like me--doing the stepping/flipping/stepping thing--but not really walking "rightly".

But...if I walk like I am supposed to walk--the way that God designed me to walk--then they may be like me too--and more importantly--they will be like Christ, who walked in unison with his Father. Jesus says in John 8, "...I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him."

Lord, help me get in your stride so that I may do what pleases you. I want to walk like you so my children will run to you. May it be so! Amen.

" Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it'."

Isaiah 30:21