Tuesday, August 03, 2010

lesson from a turtle

we have a new pet in our backyard. a box turtle. i've enjoyed watching him for the past few weeks after the boys captured him. the boys have asked many questions about him but one question in particular has stuck with me and i can't seem to escape the answer. the question was..."why does he have to carry around the hard shell on his back?" my answer..."protection, boys!"

on a somewhat personal side...these past few months i've allowed myself to believe in false securities/false protection. in doing so i only got further away from the "real" protection i needed. it left me vulnerable. i was in constant fear...always looking over my shoulder...trying to cover up with self-protection. thinking i was happy...i was really miserable. it wasn't until i let Jesus pull me back under His wing, shelter, refuge, and ultimately His authority that i felt His protection.
as the mother of brooke, i am always trying to protect her from getting hurt...and rightfully so. we, as parents, should watch over what we have been entrusted with. i'm grateful that Jesus has gone above and beyond to protect His own! He goes before us, behind us..."For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard" Is. 52.12

a friend told me just a few days ago, "He's got our backs"....i'm sure our little box turtle is thinking the same thing.

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