"It doesn’t matter what is behind you as much as it matters who is beside you." ~ Ellen ~"Laced with Grace"
I have previously posted this on my blog, but when I read the quote for the week this seemed so appropriate for a response that I am posting it here. Enjoy your walk each day.
My husband is walking with me this morning. I enjoy having him walk with me, but before we reach the end of our driveway, he is three steps ahead of me. I am a slow starter especially in the morning. I hip, hop and hustle, managing to catch up just before we reach the Crestwood track. As we start around the track, we are walking stride for stride and side by side.
After the rains of last night (five inches in a short period of time) the warm morning sun beats down upon us, and we stroll along in companionable silence. We make the turn from the track on to the blacktop by the school, and it suddenly dawns on me that our walking side by side is no accident. He has gradually shortened his stride and slowed his step so that we can walk together. Nothing has been said between us; he has just adjusted to my pace. And there is the lesson of the day-marriage advice in a morning walk. How symbolic. It occurs to me that here is the reason for the success of our fifty years together.
Life’s day to day activities have often caused us to be out of step with one another. As a farmer, his busy time was harvest (fall) and planting (spring).As a teacher, my busy time was the beginning of school (fall) and school ending (spring). Obviously we often found our lives were not moving at the same pace. Sometimes he walked ahead, and I struggled to keep up. We weren’t always on the same path in our day to day lives, but we always made the effort to keep up with each other.
In other situations, I charged on ahead. When our children were in kindergarten and third grade, I decided to go to college for a teaching degree. We certainly were on different time schedules and life was quite hectic. However, during that entire four years, he not only kept up with me but supported me the entire route.
Through our fifty years of marriage we have not always been walking at the same pace, but when either of us became aware that we didn’t seem to be walking together, every effort was made to get back side by side. Sometimes we discussed it, but not always. Usually we just made the extra effort to adjust to one another’s pace in life at that particular time. It didn’t matter who did what, it just needed to be done. It’s the caring that we walk together that has made the difference.
Whether it is a marriage or a friendship with someone else, adjusting to the pace of the one you walk with is important. Walking with God is much the same. God tells us to “Be still and know that I am God.” Just slowing down and listening can make a difference. At times in our Christian walk, it is time to speed up and “do” the things He has planned for us to do. Keeping pace can make all the difference in our relationship with Him.
