Walking

Have you ever watched people walk? I do all the time. I sort of walk with no purpose. I mean I have somewhere that I am going but I don't speed walk or rush by you. I just take my time and get where I'm going. I look down as I walk not because I'm self conscious but because I tend to trip over things so to avoid embarrassment I'm always looking down to make sure I see any obstacles on the path at my feet.

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I have a friend who wears me out when I go anywhere with her. She zooms through Wal-Mart like she is trying to win a game show. I'm all but running trying to keep up with her. If the aisle is crowded and she can't fit through, she spins on a dime it seems like, turns the corner and enters from the opposite end. I have such a headache when we finally get back in the car. She doesn't browse, she goes straight to what she needs and BAM out the door she goes. I bet there is a whirlwind of paper and debris left in her tracks when she leaves.

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I have another friend who walks around as if she is the only person on Earth. She meanders here and there never really knowing where she is going and if you cross into her path she doesn't side step, she doesn't try to avoid you, she just runs you over. And, after she runs you over she says "Did you see them?" Shopping with her makes you want to pull your hair out. She walks up and down each and every aisle looking at every single item. She picks everything up, smells it, flips it over and discusses it to only lay it back down and move on to the very next thing.

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Even though we all have our own unique way of walking that doesn't mean we are all walking on a different path it just means we are all walking at a different pace. 1 John 1:6-7 says "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

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Maybe it is time that we learn from our friends and their walk. My friend who walks really fast and is a speed shopper, well she has taught me how to pay attention when it counts and remember. At any given moment I could draw you a layout of my local Wal-Mart store. In a time of need I can be in and out of that store within five minutes if necessary. My other friend who just sort of meanders around has taught me take a moment. Enjoy the day. Enjoy the shopping trip. It may be my last and who knows, I may find something I didn't even know I was looking for. Between the two of them I have learned to stop walking around looking down. I'm so worried about tripping over something on the ground that I often forget that I may just run into and through someone who is standing in my path. Maybe, just maybe if I would quit being so stubborn I would see that God is trying to teach me to stop walking for myself and walk with him, for him, to him!