When Baby Steps Become Directional Flow

When Baby Steps Become Directional Flow

6/28/13

A common human trait is for us to sit around and try and think up of things that will make our lives better.  When we read in history of the soaring temperatures in the summer and then realize that everyone back in the 1800s had no air conditioning what so ever, it is hard for us to image such dedication and strength it must have taken to complete every day jobs back then.  I often wonder how we would function as a society if by some chance those or close to those living conditions would resurface into our lives once again.  Most would say that would be impossible, but one never knows what God has in store for our progressive behavior.

The vast majority of adults loves to sit and watch babies take their first steps and if you are a grandparent and lucky enough to witness this feat, then your life is extremely blessed.  When toddlers take that first big step it is funny to watch their reaction because it is usually one of shock and then after a few seconds a huge grin appears on their face.  Then after a few more minutes of grinning and giggling with the others who are watching them, another wobbly step occurs and the same reactions and facial expressions occur once again.  This is a wonderful time in a parent’s life because they now can begin to brag even more about the development of their child to all of the other parents within their community circle.

A parent also knows that it will not be too much longer until their child is walking without having to hold on to furniture or some other solid object in order to feel safe as they continue to become more mobile within their surroundings.  This is when a parent needs to watch their child more closely since they now have the confidence to take more chances believing that they do not need any “holding on to” help any longer.  The occasional fall and alligator tears do occur but these effects do not stop the child from continuing their walking course nor does it deter their determination to do things on their own.

Eventually, the walking becomes a slight run and a no fear attitude usually grips the child about this time as well.  It is not uncommon to find these same parents in the Emergency room departments with these children since their ambitions overtake their coordination and the body hits the ground hard and results in a nice injury.  All parents fear this time and try to do our best to watch our children’s every move but these times will occur no matter how hard we try to prevent them.  But even with all of the bumps and bruises that we watch our child come in from the playground or backyard with, we also understand that this process is a part of the normal development of our child that has now changed into a directional flow of life.

Parents know the phrase “when he / she starts walking, watch out there will be no stopping her / him.”  All parents have used this phrase and it is a phrase that we all know is true.  Everyone’s life changes when children hit this stage in their lives.  Somehow the daredevil comes out of them when they realize that they can do something new; it is exciting and scary for us adults on every level when this occurs.  The process in which those baby steps become small running motions seem like they are a great idea but still when they run a parent still watches closely because their balance and coordination are sometimes off, and stopping and turning can be quite a chore.  But the process continues and the more that the child runs and turns the more comfortable they become with their new directional activities.

Parents also understand that not every child will progress at the same time.  Some children will walk quicker than others and then run later than others.  Each child is different in these abilities and it just takes time for them to be developed.  Sometimes the parent has to push their child a little in order for them to step out of their comfort zones, this is a normal process as well.

Once the child has “mastered” the art of walking and running other developmental steps are then purposed by the child and the parent then fills up with pride knowing that their child is right on course to becoming a normal human being.  There is a phenomenon that occurs in the child when all of these new events are occurring in their lives and it is the no fear clause.  Even when they fall down and bump themselves they get up and start the process over again, even more determined to complete the task that they fell at.  This is when they are moving out of the baby steps stages and begin the directional flow status. 

The consequences are known and the mind usually understands that they will probably follow, but the heart’s desire to overcome and to do what they believe is right overtakes the mind and then the actions of the child are ramped up and the flow continues in their own direction.  This action is also a normal progression of not only a child but also an adult as well.  But in the case of the adult the options that are there are far more in number than what a child has before them.

An adult has many options that their mind and heart can think about and try and establish within their own personal realm.  Then we have a tendency to feel others that are around us out a bit in order to see if anyone else has the same feelings or thoughts as we do.  Eventually after searching for a while we will locate some who do share the same thoughts and feelings and we then bond with these people to try and see if there is a way that our shared feelings can become reality.

This is a normal progressive mentality that the human follows on a regular basis.  It is a pattern that begins with nervousness and continues until that person does not care who or what people believe about their ideas; they are going to do them no matter what.  They have made the choice to accept this option into their life and then live it out to the fullest.  In other words they have thought about things, reviewed the options, made the choice and are now following the choice that they have made.  Soon this step will become a directional flow within their lives so much so that it will become a part of their lives and they will eventually believe that it was made specifically for them.

When I was in basic training in the USAF, I remember our first night at Lackland, AFB.  There were about thirty of us standing in no real formation at all and there were four men and women walking around all of them yelling at us.  We could not understand any of them and we sure could not figure out what they were trying to tell us to do.  So we stood there and did nothing which made our instructors even more “angry” at us.  Looking back at it now it is hilarious to me but at that time I had no idea of what myself and twenty nine other guys would accomplish together during those six weeks.

As time passed by we found ourselves coming together as a flight and stopped working as individuals.  It is this type of togetherness that keeps military personnel alive when we are on the battlefield and it is sure great to know that the person behind you will not leave you when you need help.  It is this one functioning unit that has developed over these weeks that gave us the confidence to start stepping out and accomplishing more together instead of trying things on our own. 

When basic training was complete our instructors had the confidence in our abilities as soldiers to send us out into the real military world and to function as a soldier should.  From the raw rainbow flight to the well groomed USAF flight was the end goal that our instructors had for our tenure.  It was a hard transitional process but it was exciting at the same time for we knew that it would not be too much longer until the entire military would accept us as one of their own, for our basis training was complete.

It would have been a difficult procedure to follow, but at anytime during my basic training setting I could have backed out and decided that I was not conducive to the military life.  But after my graduation from basic training the scene had changed in which the USAF had spent enough time and effort on my behalf that I was involved in this career for at least four years.  It was a decision that I was proud to have made and I am still proud of it to this day.  I made mistakes and I learned a lot of things as well, it was wonderful time and I would recommend the military path to any young person today. 

At that time after graduation it became clear that the choice I had made was a permanent one and one that I could not change.  The process of options had run out and I had to stick with my choices.  It was one of the first times in my life that once an option had been chosen that I could not change it unless dire consequences would have to be administered.  I am forever known as an airmen of the USAF and I will always have that specific military training in my heart and even to this day, when I am old and fat, I can rely on that training if necessary.

Many of us forget that the choices we make have permanent consequences to them.  We like to believe that once we make a choice about something and after we decide that the choice was not right we change our minds and then walk away from that choice.  If choices were only like that all the time the world would be a much happier place, but the choices that we do make are not that way and every choice we make will stick with us for the remainder of our lives.

Look at all of the WWII German soldiers who were involved with the SS atrocities.  Were all of them involved in those foul deeds upon humanity?  The obvious answer would be, no.  But they do understand now what occurred and that even though they did not directly participate in them they were associated with those acts and their reputation is tarnished forever. 

My point to this topic is this; a choice is a wonderful option that God has given us.  And we as humans need to be mindful and “heartfelt” enough to understand that the choices we make will follow us for the rest of our lives.  Choices are a part of our lives that we embrace quickly but we tend to shy away from the responsibilities that our choices sometimes create.  We humans also have the capability to think about the choices we have in front of us and to study them carefully before we act upon them.

Once we have acted upon these choices there is no turning back from them and we will be associated with those choices forever.  Once upon a time in my life I wanted to become a surgeon.  I have the brains and had the grades to accomplish this opportunity yet I chose to stay in the Medical Technology field and work as a technologist in the clinical laboratory.  So, does this make me a loser enough to be ridiculed by the medical profession?  In some people’s eyes yes it does but in other and in my heart I say no it does not.  But everyone who knows me and knows my background has that thought in the back of their mind.  It is always with me and there is no way I can hide that fact about my life.

So I pose another question to you and this is going to be a question that most of you will answer honestly, but I hope and pray that you think about the question and understand what the consequences are.  How are the choices in your life that you have made, are making now and have in front of you going to affect you and your children’s eternal future?  I do not care about what feels good or how popular the choice will be amongst your circle of friends, but for your eternal future.

The human body is a complex organism which has thousands of little machines all working together to keep us alive and yet with all of this huge amounts of machines working there is still an inner portion of our lives that we tend to forget about and that portion is called our spirit.  It is this portion of our lives that will live on forever and it is this portion of our life that is unique in its origins to just you.  Will your spirit be subjected to all of the beautiful lies that the world has to offer or will it stay as pure as possible by repeatedly having Godly choices within its boundaries.

It is a choice that only you can make no matter what other outside influences might be.  Like the physical choices that we make on a daily basis, this one will follow us as well.  There is a dire importance that we understand this concept and it is even greater of importance that we make the correct choices for our lives.  The world promotes that we can change our minds at any time and then walk away from the things that we chose before, that is one of the more larger beautiful lies that is in front of you.  Your choices are permanent markers in your life and there is a reason for that.

Some of you might have already caught on to what I have been saying and to where I am going with these articles and the progressive choice making procedures.  There is a foundation to our choices and it is one that shocked me when God revealed it to me.  It places the importance upon the choices that we make and that are set before us, it also projects the path of a nation and the consequences that those choices will entail.  The choices that we have before us we can still turn away from or accept, the options are still available to us.  But as we make these choices we need to keep in mind that it is not by popular governmental beliefs or potential friends that will have the final say in our lives, it is God and He will look at the choices that we have made and then tell us of how we did with our talents.

God loves you and He wants you to understand that He is still in the restoration business and it is His desire for you to have a one on one relationship with Him.  It is not God’s will for us to be lost and wandering in a desert but to know and enjoy everything that life has to offer and the only way we can accomplish this type of life is through Him and knowing all of His goodness.

DLB