Day 232- A Backward First

Today, I picked up children and brought them home from school.  We carpool with 2 other families to school and back.  I had the privilege of picking them up today.  While we waited for Hannah Grace, Jack, Piper and I talked about what our favorite breed of dogs is.  I'm not sure how we got started on that topic. I think it was Jack's idea. Hannah Grace showed up and we started walking to the car.  Jack decided he wanted to walk backward to the car.  After a few steps, he invited Piper to walk backward, too.  It was then that I recognized a possible "first."  I suggested that we all walk backward to the car and we did for my "first."  This was fine with me because I grew in La. and ate enough crawfish that going backward is kind of second nature.

I have never had the children all walk backward to the car before. If this had been suggested when it had not been my year of "firsts," I probably would not have joined in.  It was actually more fun when we all did it together.  This may be a surprise to some of  you, but our children are not always all super happy when picked up at school.  School can sometimes dampen the joy of the Lord in their hearts.  Walking backwards had everyone smiling and enjoying the walk to the car.  If you can enjoy the walk to the car after school, that is a good thing in my book.

The good mood carried over into the car conversation on the ride home.  We looked up various dog breeds on my phone to see which one was the cutest.  We never did reach a consensus on that one.   Piper was pretty consistent on poodles and pugs. The other two had lots of dogs they thought were cute. I did not push for a consensus. There is no sense in setting the stage for an argument.  I think walking backwards to the car set the stage for a fun drive home.

Jack explaining

Everyone made it safely

Joel was home sick and did not get to participate

As we were walking backward today, Jack said, "You better watch out where you're going when you are walking backward."  He had some real insight there.  If you are walking backward, you can easily walk into something or step in a hole and fall.  That's a good reminder for us as believers. As we are walking through this world, we need to pay attention to where we are going.  Are we getting closer to Christ?  Are we becoming more like Christ?  Are we helping others become more like Christ?  If not, we need to walk a different way.  We don't want to simply wander through life. We need to walk with a direction in mind.

As followers of Jesus, there are lots of place that we can trip and fall spiritually and morally in this world.  Just like when you are walking backwards, if you are not walking close with Christ, you fall down or get run over.  As the children were walking backward across the parking lot today, I was walking in front and keeping a very close on eye on them so they didn't fall or walk into something. We need to walk close with Jesus and listen for His voice so we don't walk into some trap of the enemy.  We may not know what moral or spiritual traps we are about to walk into, but Jesus does.  Let Him be your guide.

So, if you want to have a little fun, try walking backward.  Just be sure that you are walking closely with Jesus.  Thanks Jack, for a great "first" idea.

Walking into the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. Seeing my friend Eric that I've not seen since college
2. Romans 8:28
3. Printers