Learning Endurance

          I have great news! We now have a house that we are planning to buy. It is a lovely three bedroom ranch situated on more than 25 acres. I haven't seen it in person; but thanks to Google's "Hangouts", the girls and I were able to see it via my hubby's smartphone. We begin inspections this week; and as long as nothing major pops up, we will be moving in just a few weeks.
          The people who put their house on the market in order to buy our house sold their home last week. We begin home inspections on this end this Thursday,  so we can close on September 20th.
            The other notable news from this week is that our duck Splashes has begun laying her clutch of eggs. We are up to  six eggs. Malards typically lay one egg a day. After they lay 12-18 eggs, they begin sitting on them. If she lays 12, we should have baby ducks around September 22. (18 eggs would put us around September 28.) I'm not sure how the ducks will handle our move, but I think two ducks will be easier to move than a dozen...looks like we will just be moving eggs.
         Yesterday when I was getting all befuddled about how this is going to work out, God brought my mind back to our hike in the woods Saturday. We all went as a family for a trip through the wooded part of our property.  This was my first time hiking in our woods, and I was amazed by how beautiful and serene it was. Everyone walked except for the baby, who got to ride on my hubby's back. In the beginning, it was almost impossible to get our three year old to hold my hand, even on the steep ascent into the woods. I stood behind her ready to catch her at a moment's notice. It wasn't until we came to a couple of large logs across our path that she showed any signs of hesitation.  What was knee high for me was almost waist high for her. She began asking me to pick her up.  Most of the time, I smiled at her and offered my hand to guide her instead of carrying her. Her requests increased in frequency the longer we went on. She was getting tired.  Occasionally I did pick her up when the obstacles were too much for her to do alone. However, I wanted her to continue to walk as much as possible to help her develop endurance.
          That's what I think God is doing for me right now. He is with me every step of the way holding my hand, but He only carries me when the way is really difficult. He knows I'm tired, but He also has the perspective of being so much bigger than my obstacles.  He can see where the path gets easy again, just like I could with my daughter.  2 Cor. 5:7 tells us to walk by faith not by sight.  Continuing to trust God enough not to worry over every detail of our move builds my own faith-filled endurance. I know He is right there to catch me if I fall, and that is enough to keep me pressing on.