A Trip to the Mailbox

I said I wanted to talk about old people yesterday, but would save that topic for another day… Well guess what? Today is that day. There is this elderly couple who lives in a house that I pass everyday on my way home from work. Some days if I happen to drive by at just the right time I see this husband leading his little wife toward the mailbox (I assume to check the mail).  I have gotten to witness this scene several times over the past couple years and I watched it again this past Tuesday. It is such a sweet picture that I can hardly stand it and I almost cry every time I see that couple. The wife appears to have a difficult time walking and it is obvious that the short trek to the mailbox is not an easy one. It is obvious that the husband could easily walk to the mailbox and back to the house in thirty seconds flat. But he doesn’t. Instead he slowly walks beside his wife, leading and supporting her. He is perfectly content to go at her pace. I cannot help but think that the wife would never be able to make it to the mailbox without her husband beside her. I also get the feeling that the husband enjoys and looks forward to daily taking that short walk with his wife. If he didn’t want to he could just go get the mail on his own. Likewise, the wife could tell her husband that she doesn’t want to walk out to get the mail with him. It is both their own choice.

When I was home working over spring break I was thinking (and possibly tearing up) about this couple as I was driving home one afternoon. Then all of the sudden I heard God say, “This is what I do for you.” I was completely speechless. Over the past couple years I had been given a real life picture of what it looks like when God leads in my life. I am that wife who could never make it to the mailbox on her own. God is like the husband; patiently leading me, walking at my pace, and enjoying the time spent with me. God wants to be with me and meet me where I am. He wants to lead me and he chose me, but like the wife I have to make the decision to let him lead me.

I love how God will reveal himself to me and show his love for me through little moments like this.

“The LORD your God is with you, the mighty warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” –Zephaniah 3:17