Hiking with a Five Year Old

Have you ever been on a hike with a five year old? If so, you know it can be quite an experience. If there are rocks, they want to kick or throw them. If there are puddles; they want to jump in them. And if there are hills to be climbed, they want to keep on going until they get tired and then they want you to carry them.

While hiking today with Will, my 5 year old grandson, we came upon an area that had bees, yellow jackets and biting flies. Now up until this point he had been the brave warrior who could conqueror the mountain, but when he saw the bees, his whole persona changed. He started jumping up and down waving his arms and screaming at the top of his lungs in a high pitched voice. I don’t think it did anything to scare the insects, but it probably did draw more of them to us, because it seemed that more of them encircled us. When he finally calmed down enough to continue through the woods, Will walked right in front of me, in fact he was actually almost glued to the front of my legs, but the worst part was that even though he was in front of me, his hands were behind him holding onto my shorts legs with each hand. If you would like to experience it sometime, I think you would find it is almost impossible to walk in that position. It was so much easier when Will finally decided to take my hand instead of my shorts and walk in unison with me.

I had to laugh to myself regarding how this situation must have looked. As I pondered the situation, I thought about the different ways that we grab onto God’s “shorts” instead of taking His hand when we are fearful. We sometimes listen to a certain song or recite a particular prayer or read a specific devotional book. At times we also use objects like angels or crystals that might seem to represent God as a substitute for the real thing. When we fellowship with God Himself by making the choice to go directly to Him and give our fears over to Him instead of placing our trust in “good” things, we can then move forward in confidence knowing that He will guide and direct us in safety. Are you going to grab onto shorts or the hand of God in your situation today?

Psalm 31:5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

hearthope.org

Comments

Christy said…
Oh what a video that would have made! My 6'4" 24 yr old son still screams like a girl when he sees a bee! Good thing Will had his Oggy to protect him! And I am grateful for our God who is our refuge and rock!
July 25, 2010 at 6:23 PM
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