backwards scooter

my sweet bug is the ripe old age of 8 months and is now realizing that she can move around by herself. she is doing very well getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. however, she has yet to crawl. instead she plops herself onto her belly and scoots...backwards! i'll tell ya, that backwards scooting can get you places...usually in trouble. bug often finds that she has scooted herself right under the coffee table or under a chair. until she realizes she is stuck in a precarious position she is quite the happy girl. see, she is looking at me the whole time she is scooting farther and farther away. she thinks all is well because she can see mommy...until she scoots herself right up against a wall and mommy is clear across the room.

bug starting to get the hang of this mobility thing

bug's backward scooting reminded me of how i so often backwards scoot away from the Lord. though unlike bug, i know as i am looking at Him that i am moving farther away and will eventually end up stuck under a chair or with my back against the wall. i get to a place in my spiritual life where all seems well. i am talking daily with God; reading His Word; relying fully on Him. i am looking Him straight in the eye, smiling, and then begins the scooting. i slack off on my praying, i start reading the Word every other day, i start worrying. i keep scooting until i haven't spoken to the Lord in days, my Bible has a layer of dust on it, and i am overwhelmed by worry. things seemed great but then i realize i have scooted myself right up against a wall and the Father is clear across the room.

i know that bug has gotten herself stuck because i have been lovingly watching her the whole time. as soon as she realizes it and calls out for me i am right there to turn her around and pick her up. we start again. i set her on a better course. our Heavenly Father does the same for us. when i have shamefully let my relationship with Him get backed against the wall He is right there when i call out ready to turn me around and pick me up. no matter how many times bug needs to be pulled out from under the table i will do it - just as God will never leave me, no matter how many times i back myself against the wall.

and just as bug will eventually learn to crawl forward, i hope that one day i, too, will no longer be a backwards scooter. i hope that i will not only always crawl forward to the Father but that i will constantly be running to Him!