CHRIST GOES BEFORE US
The sight of a woman with a baby tied with a blanket to her back is as common a sight in Ntshongweni, South Africa as strollers in Disneyland. From the time babies can hold their head up until the they are too big to carry (4 - 5 years) they are tied on and carried in this fashion. What a beautiful reminder of God our loving, heavenly Father who calls us His children and who goes before us, carrying,protecting and keeping us close.
My two friends, plus Ginger, my ministry partner and I were walking to visit more friends. I asked the 17 year old mother of the four month old baby, Laredo (Zeal's pronunciation of her Zulu name) if I could carry him on my back just the way I see Zulu women doing every single day.
I’m so enthralled with women always having a baby tied to them and I began to wonder how does the tiny baby get positioned and then stays so still without any fussing for what can be hours. So many Biblical lessons to be learned from a child. Ah, the women bends forward, then puts the baby on her back and it knows instinctively to hold on until the blanket is secured. What would our lives be like if we all clung to God? If we truly realized that we would fall and get hurt if we didn’t hold tightly to God. Everyday!
Laredo tying the thin blanket very tightly.
Each time this precious baby boy breathed or moved I could feel him and it reminded me of being pregnant 25 & 27 years ago... somethings mothers never forget.
Next time I'm invited to a baby shower, the mother-to-be is getting one little blanket from me with directions on how to tie the tot to her back. Who the heck needs expensive strollers or baby carriers?
This is awesome.
Off we go.
Off we go.
With no toys or anything to simulate, the child is calm. “Be still, and know that I am God...” Psalm 46:10
Walking down the road.
How often are we distracted by all that is surrounding us and get fussy? Fussy with each other, fussy with unmet expectations, fussy with God. Personally, being a missionary and having almost everything eliminated from my life, suddenly what is important and what is unimportant is very clear to me. With little to distract me and focused on my ministry, I have had to learn to hold on to Christ Jesus and be still in His presences. As I am carried in His love I rest knowing that Christ goes before me.
In the beginning I kept my hands on this sweet baby.
We reached our destination and I just got to hold him. The worst part of going back to America will be not holding babies and children all day, everyday.
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