Follow the Leader

I hope all you mommies had a wonderful holiday yesterday. Mother's Day always makes me think back to the eventful days of new motherhood. Three babies in four-and-a-half years made for lots love and laundry, hugs and headaches, sloppy kisses and sleepless nights. And through it all, God has been so faithful to use my kiddos to teach me so much about Him, myself, and the way He loves me and longs for me to look like Him.

Here's a little story I wrote a while back, remembering the lesson God taught me when I used to take three babies to the grocery store:


Follow the Leader
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NIV)

Who knew going to the grocery store could be such a lesson in logistics. After several failed attempts at grocery-shopping with my 4-year old, 2-year old, and newborn, we devised a plan that was do-able. I kept my 2-year old Jewel sitting in the seat of the shopping cart. I strapped and propped 3-month-old Jot into an umbrella stroller that could then be pushed by his 4-year old Justice.

After a few near-collisions and several 2-wheeled turns through frozen foods, I realized I needed to have Justice behind me rather than careening out in front. This made for a fairly safe adventure--unless I stopped abruptly or had to back-track to retrieve an item. In those instances, I usually wound up with the stroller riding up the backs of my legs. My son followed me so closely, any change in direction caused him to bump into me.

I realized their spiritual development would be affected in the same way. If I made a wrong turn, they would likely follow. If I slipped backward, they might back-track as well. If I wanted them to follow my example I needed to follow Christ so closely that if He stopped I would run my stroller up the backs of his legs. My children were watching me, and I had better make sure I was watching God.

God taught me to keep myself so close to the Him, that I could say with assurance, “Follow me because I’m following the Leader.”