That Ol' Tortoise

The tortoise and the hare keep making an appearance in my life!  God must be telling me something.  Heath is currently intrigued daily by a Mother Goose version of the story with a tortoise named Leonard and a hare named Skip.  For the moment, he is less fond of the LeapFrog version (It is so odd!  They fit the entire alphabet in… there’s a zebra, an umbrella, a city, and all kinds of other out of place things!)

I recently heard the quote, “We overestimate what we can accomplish in 5 weeks and underestimate what we can accomplish in 5 years.”  Isn’t that so true! 

Ol' Leonard understood that idea. He just kept going one slow step at a time.  One next right step after another.  It had to feel so defeating to watch others zoom right by.  And, when the wind was cold and the hills were steep, it had to be really hard for him to take that next right step. 

Last week I started to get overwhelmed.  I let my mind race and run with all the things that need to get done.  I dreamed of Pinterest things to do to our house.  I felt defeated after reading blogs of creative things moms did with their kids during the snow days.  I diagnosed half the world’s problems after reading journal articles for my class.  And when one of those “out of nowhere” problems popped up, I was a mess. 

Friday night, I laid my head down whispering to God.  “I feel like I’m drowning.”  I knew that none of this was crisis level stuff.  I was just off and my focus was wrong.  I closed my eyes and couldn’t see my way back.  I whispered it again.  Drowning. 

Saturday morning I opened up my little quiet time book.  On that very day the words were so perfect, “When you feel yourself sinking in the circumstances…”  The Scripture with it was the story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus. 

Peter stepped out of the boat in faith during a storm to be closer to Jesus.  I could relate.  When Peter looked away from Jesus, he saw the waves and he began to sink.  He cried out to Jesus to save him.   I got it.  I had been looking at the waves.  My focus was not where it should have been.  I was drowning.  Without His perspective, I only sink.  Trusting Him as I take one step after the other is the only way to truly go through the storm.    

That night, I got out my lesson for GoKids the next morning.  You’re not going to believe me, but it was the story of Peter walking on water.  It was all about trusting God. 

So, that ol’ tortoise has got it right.  One diligent, purposeful step after another.  Who knows where he’ll be in five years!