God-Strong!

My son, Nik, is quite the hero! After his baseball game, we stopped at McDonalds to have supper. He was still dressed in his baseball uniform of course, looking quite spiffy, when a group of boys accosted him in the bathroom. Little boys they were who had to look up at this 6 foot giant. They asked Nik for his autograph!

When I came out of the bathroom, because you know, that's the first place we want to hit after a baseball game, I saw a group of young kids around an adult. They were all talking about the major league baseball player. The man told them that he was probably a high school player. Being the shy, reserved Mom that I am, I told him that he was a freshman, no less. My Mommy-heart got to beat fast because those kids didn't care. They wanted his autograph anyway. They didn't know the difference between Pro ball and high school ball. They just saw someone that they could look up to.

It got me to thinking how we look at others. Sometimes we forget that they are just like us. We tend to put people on pedestals. I'm not sure why we do that. And then when they have a great fall, we act so surprised, shocked in fact. But they are human, after all. We all make mistakes and "fall short of the kingdom of God." (Romans 3:23)

We should be lifting each other up in prayer not on a pedestal. We only see a little of what is really going on in their lives just as they only see a little of what is going on in ours. Usually we only let the best shine through and the ugly is pushed aside. To have friends we can truly be open and honest with, people we can share our loveliness and ugliness with, those are our true friends, the kind we need to strive to find and nurture. I am so blessed to have these kinds of friends. Friends who remind me that they walk through the muck and the mire just like I do. Friends who keep pointing me up even as they are walking through hard times themselves. Together, perhaps, we will make it through this life, you think? God brought us together. He bound us into a tight braid. He's made us God-strong!

As I walked into McDonalds, I was smiling big BIG of course. I didn't know that the boys had talked to Nik also. He told them when he makes the major leagues, then he will give them his autograph. Such a good boy Nik is. I pray that Nik will become God-strong as he grows and matures and that he finds good friends to help him in his spiritual journey just as I've found through my 44 years. God-strong we are as we cling to Him!