Thursday, January 26, 2012

Walking With Papa

Elisabeth Camping

Over the Christmas holidays I got to spend a week with my granddaughters.  Although I had seen my youngest granddaughter take a few steps previously, this was the first time that I had seen her walking.  Once she started walking she couldn’t be stopped.  She seemed to be walking constantly every waking minute.  She especially liked to walk up and down the stairs. 

Watching her walking everywhere and trying to keep up with her reminded me of the time when my oldest granddaughter first learned to walk.  Although she could take a few steps, what she really wanted to do was to hold my hand and walk.  She wanted to go outside and walk up and down the sidewalk holding on to one finger. Holding on to my finger she had all the confidence in the world and could walk for hours. One afternoon we spent an hour walking outside as fast as her little legs could go. I kept expecting her to get tired of it, but she wanted to keep going. If I even tried to walk toward the door of the house she wouldn’t go that way.

 May I Come In?

When we went inside after more than an hour of walking, she kept going to the door and pounding on it. She wanted to go back outside and walk some more. Because I was the one who would take her walking she wanted to spend a lot of her time with me.

I had always loved my granddaughter, but getting to spend so much time with her made me love her even more. Walking together made us both closer to each other. I think that there are a lot of parallels between her experience learning to walk, and our experience being born again. When we are born again we are baby Christians and we have to learn to walk spiritually.

God used that illustration in Hosea 11:3 where it says: “I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms”. In many places in the Bible the idea of God helping us walk with Him are brought out. In Psalms 37:23,24 the Bible says:  “The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.” What a beautiful illustration of the Christian life. We are to walk with God and he has promised to hold our hand.



Do we learn to walk with God in the same way that we learned to walk as babies, by trial and error?  Do we stand across the room from our Father and take wobbly footsteps towards Him as he calls to us from a distance "Come to Daddy”.  Do we fall down repeatedly as we try to get it right? God has a different plan for us. Psalms 56:13 says “You have delivered my soul from death. You have kept my feet from falling, so I will walk with you in light among the living”. God doesn’t want you to fall. He wants you to hold his hand.

As parents we want our children to learn to take care of themselves; to stand on their own two feet.  We realize that we won't be there for them forever. They need to learn to take care of themselves. So from babyhood to adulthood we are continually learning how to take care of ourselves.  God's goal for us is very different. He is our Eternal Father; He is always available to us. Instead of wanting us to become increasingly independent, He wants us to learn to be increasingly dependent on Him. He wants us to walk with Him, our hand in His. He doesn't want us taking off on our own two feet. I believe that as human beings this is one of our hardest lessons.

Have you ever taken a walk on a busy street with a two year old? You point out to him the pretty gardens you are walking past; the beautiful flowers, the scampering squirrel, the pretty song bird; but he's not interested. He's too busy trying to pry free from your hold. He can't stand holding your hand. He's a big kid now. He wants to walk on his own.

We as Christians are often like that. Instead of clinging to our Father's hand, we have this tendency to take off on our own two feet. There are so many charming things that take our attention from Him. Sometimes we don't like to be restricted by holding his hand. Some of those Bible principles cramp our style. Sometimes we let the cares of this world pull us away from Him, and instead of holding tighter to His hand, we let go.

Whenever we let go we inevitably fall down and hurt ourselves and then we sink into discouragement and we look to God and we say "Father, what's this all about? Why did you let me fall?  Why didn’t you stop this from happening to me?" And then He looks at us sadly and says "Child, you let go of my hand. You took off on your own. I am able to keep you from falling, but you must keep your hand in mine."

Walking

We don’t know what is before us. The future can be a frightening thing.  Our only safety is in walking with Christ, our hand in His.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

2011 In The Rear View Mirror Part 3

2011 marched by quickly, with many memorable events.  Here is a retrospect of 2011 in photos.

In September Gina and I attended the Mid South Relay For Life Leadership Summit in Birmingham, Alabama.  While Gina and Cynda were at Scrapfest in Mandeville, Louisiana; Bekah got to come spend some time with Papa.  Bekah and Papa visited Cossatot River State Park and Queen Wilhelmina State Park.

Arkansas Relay Volunteers
ARKANSAS RELAY VOLUNTEERS

Nikki Crystal and Gina
NIKKI CRYSTAL AND GINA

This Way
THIS WAY PLEASE

Butterfly
BEKAH MAKES FRIENDS WITH A BUTTERFLY



Cossatot Falls
PAPA AT COSSATOT FALLS


Bekah the Engineer
BEKAH THE TRAIN ENGINEER

October was a very busy month starting with Deanna and Leonard's wedding in Branson, Missouri.  Gina was chosen as a Hero of Hope by the American Cancer Society and traveled to Birmingham, Alabama for training.  I was asked to be the weekend speaker at the Arkansas Louisiana Pathfinder Camporee held at De Gray Lake.  At the end of the month we traveled to Castor, Louisana to celebrate our grand daughters birthdays.

Deanna and Leonard's Wedding
DEANNA AND LEONARD'S WEDDING

Mr. and Mrs. Prowant
MR. AND MRS. LEONARD PROWANT

Camporee Sabbath Service
CAMPOREE SABBATH SERVICE



Speaking at Camporee
SPEAKING AT CAMPOREE

Bekah Camping
BEKAH AT CAMPOREE

Elisabeth Camping
ELISABETH AT CAMPOREE

 Arkansas Heroes Of Hope
ARKANSAS HEROES OF HOPE

Mid South Heroes Of Hope
MID-SOUTH HEROES OF HOPE

Papa Great Carves a Pumpkin
PAPA GREAT CARVES THE PUMPKIN

Papa Great's Jack-o-lantern
PAPA GREAT'S JACK-O-LANTERN

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream
MAKING ICE CREAM WITH LIQUID NITROGEN

We started November with a trip to Branson where we met Deanna and Leonard.  We attended the Ozark Folk Festival in Eureka Springs  where we heard 3 Penny Acre, Still On The Hill, and Split Lip Rayfield.  Gina gave her first Hero Of Hope speeches and we had a great time visiting Mulberry Manor in Castor, Louisiana

Cousins
THE PROWANT'S AND THE LAWRY'S

Basin Spring
MUSIC AT BASIN PARK

3 Penny Acre
3 PENNY ACRE

Still on the Hill
STILL ON THE HILL

Split Lip Rayfield
SPLIT LIP RAYFIELD

Hero of Hope
GINA, MY HERO OF HOPE

Teacher Gavin
TEACHER GAVIN

Residents of Mulberry Manor
RESIDENTS OF MULBERRY MANOR

Papa and Bekah
PAPA AND BEKAH

In December we had a Relay For Life float in the Mena Christmas parade.  We had a great time meeting my sister Jeannie and her family in Branson to go to Silver Dollar City.  Christmas was great with a houseful over the 3 day weekend.  Our family presented a Christmas program for church.

Relay For Life Float
WORKING ON THE RELAY FOR LIFE FLOAT

 Merry Christmas
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Amoses
DEWEY KELVIN AND JEANNIE

Silver Dollar City
SILVER DOLLAR CITY

Checkers
PLAYING CHECKERS

A Christmas Carol
A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Christmas Spirit
CHRISTMAS AT THE KEETER CENTER

Singing in Church
BEKAH AND AUTUMN SINGING IN CHURCH

Autumn's Poinsetta
AUTUMN AND HER POINSETTIA

Christmas Morning
CHRISTMAS MORNING

Papa Great and Elisabeth
PAPA GREAT AND ELISABETH

Christmas Girls
GIRLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY

2011 is in the rear view mirror, but there is a reason the rear view mirror is so small and the windshield is so big.  Where we are going is so much more important than where we have been.  Happy 2012 everyone!