Thinking she was walking all by herself, nine-month-old Peyton chuckled with delight. Actually, she was walking behind her stroller and holding onto a stabilizer rod that was just the perfect height for her. I was assisting her, but since she didn’t feel my hands on hers, as she had during our previous “walks,” she really thought she was going wherever she wanted to go — all by herself.

    As she giggled and walked faster and faster, I sensed her confidence growing with each lap we made through the house. I imagined that she was thinking, “Man, oh man! I am really flying now, aren’t I? Just look at me!”

    I didn’t bother to show her that my right hand was gently grasping the neckline of her loose-fitting shirt and that my left hand was on the handle of the stroller, guiding it, controlling the speed, and preventing it from getting away from her. The time had come to help her let go of the white-knuckle grip she normally had on my fingers. Her balance was improving daily and she was showing increasing signs of being ready to walk by herself.

He is ever watching over me, protecting me, helping me...

    As I watched my little granddaughter take such joy in her newfound independence, I thought about how often I, too, move through life without realizing that God is walking beside me every step of the way. Yet, He is ever watching over me, protecting me, helping me maneuver around the twists and turns of life, guiding me in safe and delightful paths, and allowing me to pause here and there along the way in order to see some things I’ll be able to explore and enjoy in the future. As He does, He delights all the while in the ways I’m growing and developing.

    Father, thank You for being with me, even when I do not realize all the ways You are tenderly watching over me and directing my path.

“If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.” (Psalm 37:23-24, NIV)

“It was I who taught [My children] to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love...” (Hosea 11:3-4, NIV)