Stepping Stones

When I was a little girl, I had a huge imagination that usually got the best of me. I loved to spend my time in fields of grass, skipping around and collecting every dandelion my tiny hands could hold because dandelions were the most beautiful flower I had ever seen and I wanted to give them all to my beautiful mommy(Melissa) who I thought deserved them. I would lay down and look at the sky and see the pretty clouds above and make pictures out of them, and talk to myself about them and wish I could touch them. I loved to swing on the swing set and beg her to push me higher and higher because if I could just reach a little farther I could touch the sky! And I loved stepping stones. I used to leap from one to the next with my tiny little legs, following wherever the stones would lead me. I used to always pretend that I couldn't touch the grass or the ground around because I had to stay safe from the hot lava or the sharks that were going to eat me! And if I did step off, I would fight off the sharks and withstand the immense heat of the lava. And I always wanted to follow the steps after my biological mommy because she was who I wanted to be when I grew up, she was my everything. And sometimes when she held her hand out to catch me, I batted it away and told her I was a big girl and I could do it all by myself! But sometimes I took her hand because I loved her and trusted her to help pick me back up.
But when the stepping stones that followed after her suddenly stopped and were completely cut off and I felt that I was standing there all alone with no where to go, God held my hand and carried me to the next stepping stone that took me to my new mommy.

And as I followed my new mommy, she taught me that I didn't have to face the immense heat on my feet or fight off the sharks alone. She was there with me, holding my hand and we were taking the steps together. But even as I grew taller, somehow the leaps never got smaller, they just kept getting bigger. My legs were never a match for the spaces between each stone. But it was okay because my new mommy was there with me, teaching me how to take bigger steps and how to be like her. Sadly, I have to admit that I didn't stick as closely behind her like I should have. Looking back, I stepped off the stones way more than I needed to or should have and sometimes I still do. I wish I could say that I am as much like my mommy as I could possibly be, but I'm not. Beauty and wisdom like hers will take many years to acquire, so I know that I still have a long way to go until I will be like her, but that's okay. Because that's what this walk is about anyway, learning to become who our God created us to be.
And though I'm not perfect, she still teaches me and she still sticks with me when I start to slip off the edge. She teaches me how to get back on, and to plant my feet more firmly so I won't fall off so easily next time. And as she is teaching me all this, she is also teaching me that I don't only have her walking with me, leading me to who I should become someday. I have my Jesus guiding me too. You see, He was the One leading her all this time too!

Now that I'm not-so-much a little girl anymore and my legs are way longer than they used to be, the leaps I'm taking are even bigger yet. The jumps are getting farther and farther apart, but my Jesus always brings me through. He is what has brought me to this stepping stone that I'm standing on now. Though I didn't know who He was when I was little, He always held me when I batted Melissa's hands away and said I could do it all by myself, and even when I chose to embrace them. And He was there when Mommy was(is) leading me through too. He has been there every step of the way and I need Him to help me to take the steps I'm going to take in the future.
My mommy helped me so much along the way, but it is time to let go of her hand. As much as I wish I could still follow right behind my mommy, as much as I wish I could stay with her longer and have her keep holding my hand, it is time that I start walking with my Jesus all by myself. The time has come where I should kiss my mommy and thank her for leading me here to this place I'm at now, and take hold of my Jesus' hand and let Him carry me to this next big stone that I'm getting ready to jump to, which is 8,500 miles away.
Now that I'm older, I fear doing it all by myself. I don't want to leave my mommy, my daddy, or my family, but I know that because my Jesus has carried me all this time, He will carry me even through this. Because HE is bigger than any leap I will take or any obstacle that will be in my way. This is what He has called me to do, so I know He'll be everything I will need Him to be.

And I'm praying and hoping that God will give me the chance to hold Melissa's hand and teach her what it's like to walk along those stones with our Jesus even though I'm so far away. Because obviously her mommy didn't do a very good job at showing her and she deserves to have someone to show her the way too.

And hopefully someday I'll get to hold my little girl's hand as we leap across the stepping stones together and I teach her the very things my mommy and my Jesus taught me.