“Who’s gonna win?” Her squeaky voice shrieks from the bottom of the stairs.
She staggers her hands on the last two steps. Her torso rocks in anticipation for takeoff. Two plump 5 inch long feet position to push off and propel her up the carpeted incline.
“It going to be me,” I tease her.
She looks back at me with twinkling eyes and tousled hair.
“Ready, set, go.” She shouts pushing off before finishing the command.
Shiny brown locks bounce with each step. Her arms and legs reach up with the coordination of a puppy. Giggles bubble out of her and swirl around the staircase.
My hands and feet plod up the stairs behind her. I tickle her heels, spurring her up.
She pulls herself up to the landing.
“ I win! I win!” She shouts, twirling around to face me.
She fans out her feet, shoots one arm up in the air and hoists the other onto her hip. Closing her eyes, she lifts her face to the ceiling in victory.
Although I have the power to finish her off, my delight is in her win.
A day or so earlier she set up for the same ritual. I wasn’t in the mood. I labored up ahead balancing a laundry basket on my hip. At the top I announced my victory with a gruff voice.
Immediately, with one look at her droopy frown, my heart sank. Internally I scolded myself. What would an extra 20 seconds have cost you?
Lesson learned. I will always spur my little stair-hopping Olympian to the top in victory. It’s a small price to pay to see her confidence and joy erupt at the top.
∗
What challenge towers in front of you? What goals have you set for yourself? Or what promises of God are you believing for your life?
Ruth, a young woman known for her fierce loyalty, made a commitment too.
After losing her husband and all the men in his family, she vows to stay with her mother-in-law, Naomi, forever. She knows this commitment will take her to a foreign land with a different culture and customs.
Yet she’s all in. Just like you.
However, now it’s time for you to take some practical steps and put your faith to work. But it feels like you are staring up at the flat side of a vertical mountain. The climb feels impossible. You’ve never done it and you don’t know where to start.
This new adventure of writing is a full-on faith fest as opposed to a confident display of literary skill. School intimidated me until graduation day. And parenting is the jaggiest mountain of all.
I walk into all of those challenges with the clumsy march of a toddler in high heels. But, somehow, and so far, God keeps moving me forward.
He made Ruth successful, and He will make your way successful too.
After Ruth and Naomi arrive in the new country, Ruth decides to support them by picking grain to eat and sell. A foreigner in a foreign land, she tackles on the job training. And she does not blend in.
Loyalty lands Ruth in vulnerable positions. However, her loyalty also attracts favor.
After hearing about her commitment to her mother-in-law, the kind land owner invites her to eat to lunch with the crew. He instructs her to stay close to the other trustworthy women working with her.
Ruth is learning one step at a time.
Then the generous landowner makes this declaration.
… “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.” (Ruth 2:15-16)
Stepping out can be awkward. We risk making mistakes. And we will make many. But God’s favor makes room for and makes up for our child-like beginnings.
Who’s gonna win? You are. You were the winner from the start.
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