Christmas Thoughts in Graduation Season

Tripping, blocking and flat out knocking over babies are the extremes to which I have gone to ensure that both Mommy, Daddy and a functioning video camera were present and focused when each of our babies took their first steps. I did not know a lot about babies when I got started, but I knew that recording and remembering first steps were up there on the checklist of things that I needed to make happen. (Which is why, fellow This Is Us fans, that I will NEVER forgive Maddison for not only not preventing but encouraging Franny to walk while Kevin was gone and then sending him the video as evidence of what he missed…. ok… rant over)

My first three girls to get to steppin’ were adorable and precious and filled everyone with smiles. However, when we got to the last baby taking steps, I never wanted to let her go. It’s bittersweet isn’t it? When the sweet caboose of your family, the icing on the cake, that precious one that makes your family complete starts to walk, your heart just wants to block her forever. And while she is walking, there is part of you that just wants to wallow in the end of an era, to sit in the sadness. I told myself all of the right things. Wisdom such as, “Mourning the end of a stage is natural, but remaining in that sadness is going to block me from experiencing the joy of the next one.” Regardless of that truth, I was stubbornly refusing to believe that anything could be better than those chubby little baby legs starting to take flight.

I distinctly remember the moment when I snapped out of those feelings. I was washing dishes in the kitchen, and my daughter, Avonlea, was playing with left-over Little People Nativity set pieces. I was smiling to myself, just listening to the sound of her imaginative play. As she was playing, she said to the Little People Jesus (permanently attached to the manger), “Where are your feet, baby Jesus? Can you walk?” I stopped mid-drying a plate and felt the Lord put His hand on my shoulder and remind me so gently that baby Jesus took first-steps. I instantly pictured Mary, probably thrilled and sad, happy for growth, mourning the end of a stage, wondering what could be better. What really got me was that when I think of Jesus and walking, I have never considered the circumstances surrounding His first steps as a toddler. Honestly, I do not know that His first steps impacted that many lives outside of Mary and Joseph. They certainly didn’t make the Book. The steps that were recorded? The ones taken on water. Those steps impact the world to this day. They show us who He is as Creator and Sustainer. They teach us to trust Him and remind us of His complete power over all. I wonder what Mary thought when she heard about those water steps? Whatever her thoughts, I have a hard time believing that she wished she could go back. To know Him better, to see Him change the world, these stages are far greater.

So, to the mom who is having trouble with changing from a certain stage of your child’s life to the next (here’s to you, moms of graduates), remember that there was a moment in time that Jesus took His first steps, but far greater steps were coming. Who knows when your babies will be used of the Lord to take their own water steps? Will you be ready to record the moments when they lead the world to trust Him more? Just the thought gives you a thrill, right? That’s the thrill of hope, oh weary mom, rejoice!