Walking Side By Side

 I am short. Very short. My husband is average height. It doesn't really effect our relationship at all except when we are walking. 

At his side, I have to work harder to keep the pace. My legs get tired, I feel winded. He's a man on a mission. I find myself slowly drop back and try to make myself content with following. 

Honestly, I'm not content. I don't want to walk behind him, but with him. I appreciate the moments when he notices our distance and catches on that his wife has a much slower stride and slows his pace significantly to accommodate me. I imagine it isn't always comfortable to slow down that much. Maybe the slower pace feels less natural to him, but he makes the adjustment anyway because we are a team and he wants us side by side. I can't even explain how good those moments make me feel. 


I was thinking today about this walking dynamic and how it translates in my walk with God. 


Sometimes I get anxious in my faith and I try to pick up my speed. I frequently find myself getting ahead of God, passing up the target destination He has planned for me. I wonder if He feels that discontentment that I feel when my husband passes me by. Does my rushing cause God to feel like an unwanted tag along?


When I think about my walk with God I desire a parallel walk. I want to be hip to hip, holding hands with my Savior. Not getting ahead or lagging behind, but completely in step with His will. 


As little children we all played follow the leader and I think we locked that concept in and made it our image of leadership, but true leadership shouldn't require leaving someone behind or resemble a trailing line of bodies with the leader at the front and everyone else behind. I think that leadership should be side-by-side relationship that respects authority while longing to be as close as physically possible. A good leader makes you able to understand the vision. Once you fall in line with the vision, you find yourself physically in line with the leader.    


When we refer to faith we call it our walk with Christ. That's what I want to live. Not walking ahead or behind, but walking with my creator.  

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What next? Well, I'm taking off my sneakers and going barefoot. I'm not marathon running my faith anymore, but strolling with my Savior. I want to see the sights at the same time, catch the curves in the road together and trust Him to know our next step.