Today, I bought my son his first pair of men’s ADULT shoes.  To say I had an emotional response would be the understatement of the year, all inside of course.  He was giddy as he put the shoe on his foot and said it fit perfectly.  All I wanted to do at that moment was to hold him and say it is too big and will be for another 10 years.  As some of you may be thinking I need to go to counseling, I smiled at him and said awesome.  That was a Mom victory.  🙂

The thought of the afternoon came back as I began to do the normal activities.  I pondered how we truly view growth…doubeminded.  I look at my kids and while I desire them to grow and become healthy adults that contribute to society, I also want them to stay the way they are, minus the continuous need for me to do things I am not practically fond of.  Many times, we encourage people in our lives and in the Church to find their gifting, to search inside what brings them life, to rest in their passions and to pursue their God-given dreams. While we speak these things realizing this will bring them the greatest joy and the abundant life that Jesus promises, we hope that they will not grow too fast, that they will always need us and worst of all, that we can control their decisions.  Growth is a hard thing sometimes to watch, as we warn not to trip over the new shoes, not to get them too dirty, and to keep them tied.  In my life I have had leaders to tell me to walk in my passions and allow God to identify who I am to be.  When I did, it did not really look the way they expect, so in return they told me that the shoes were too big.  This has hindered me through the years, until someone took the old, tight shoes off and began to help me pick out new ones.  Ask Jesus to put the shoes on you need for this season, because before long you will need a bigger pair.