Ponder the Path of Thy Feet

"Ponder the path of thy feet" (Proverbs 4:26). 

Do you ever have moments when everything feels surreal? And you wonder how you ever came to be where you are. And for a small moment, you feel like the you from 15 years ago, and as you look at your life it just amazes you (in a good way or bad way or both). I have those moments from time to time and they are a bit jarring for me. Sometimes it is in a loud or quiet moment at home and I look at my husband and think "I can't believe I am married...and have been married for almost a third of my life....and it just feels funny." Or I look at my children and think "when did this happen? Are these kids really mine?" Like I am looking at everything with fresh eyes. Or the other day, my friend (who is 5 or 6 six years younger than me) emailed me a picture of us she took when we were out together and I looked at myself and thought "Who is that? I look so old!"

These moments don't occur very often, but when they do, they usually lead to some reflection about where I am in my life and what I am becoming. This life is a tricky one. It is so easy to get caught up in all the everyday things that have to happen. You know what I mean: meals, sleep, school, diapers, work, cleaning ourselves, the house, the yard, the cars. And so hard sometimes to remember why we are really here and who we can become, even while doing all the necessary, everyday things.

We are reading the New Testament for our Sunday School study this year, and the phrase that keeps getting caught in my brain is this: come, follow me (Luke 18:22, John 21:22, Matthew 16:24, Numbers 32:11, Omni 1:26, Moroni 10:32).

The video I posted at the beginning of this post gave me new insight into the story of the rich young ruler who "comes" to Christ and asks Him what he needs to do to have eternal life.  The young man had faith enough in the Savior to come to Him. The fact that He sought Jesus out shows that he believed He had answers. But after the young man affirms that he has kept the commandments throughout his life, and is then counselled to sell what he has and follow Jesus, he cannot make the commitment. So he turns around and goes his way, and Christ and His disciples (those who follow Him physically and are attempting to follow spiritually) go another way. 

That visual image of the young man turning and walking away is poignant to me. It doesn't mean that the rich young ruler was never able to give up his material wealth and follow the Savior. But in that moment, he could not commit. So he walked away from the one person who could show him what it means to reach your true potential--what it means to really love someone--what it means to know yourself and to know God. 

So this week, I am going to try a little harder to "follow Him", even while I walk through the everyday necessities. I can't physically walk beside Him and watch the way He interacts with people and love them and heals them. But I can read about it and try my best to do things the way He would. Doing this, I believe, will help me know myself better and to know my Heavenly Father better.

-elin

Who is going to have a hard time "following Him" while I plan out meals for this week. I actually enjoy cooking...but I hate having to plan out meals and think of new things that are not only tasty but actually healthy...grrrrr...And I hate ironing clothes....