Naps on the Beach

So, I just have to share this story from my day:

I got up to the lake this afternoon and two of my younger cousins were staying with our grandparents so we were all hangin' out up here and they left Patrick and I with Makiah and Reece while they went to church since Patrick and I are going to Teen Mass tomorrow night.

We played a lot, had a snack, wrestled, watched TV...you know, the usual. But then Reece and I decided we wanted to go outside. So we got out of the house I thought it would be a good idea to walk down to the little beach area down the street. So, of course, we were about halfway there and Reece decided he didn't like my idea and wanted to turn around and go home. But I told him he would have fun at the beach and picked him up and carried him for awhile until we were practically at the beach. When we got down to the water I told him he could play in the sand and at the edge of the water but I was going to sit on a stack of dock sections that was sitting back from the water a little ways. Immediately he said he wanted to sit on my lap. So, we just hung out and talked for a few minutes about all the things we could see but within 5 minutes he was asleep. So, I decided it would be a good choice to just hang out there for awhile and let him sleep instead of walking back to the house and risking the possibility of waking him up. After 45 minutes or an hour I decided to head back home and so I picked up his shoes and started the trek back. 

As I was walking it hit me that I was experiencing just a sliver of what Christ experienced and the love I showed for this boy is similar but on a much smaller scale. I was carrying Reece and I held his life in my arms and everything that came with his precious life. Christ carried all of our lives with him on his trek to Calvary and everything that came with our lives, including our sins. I gathered up Reece and picked up his sandals and carried his tired body back to the safe dwelling of our house. Likewise, Christ picks us up and carries us back to Him when we are too weary to find our way back to Him on our own. When we have worked so hard to find our way to our Lord and we have grown too weary to have faith anymore he is always right there to sweep us off our feet and take us back home. Once we got back to the cabin, Reece peacefully awoke and didn't throw a fit or anything! (that's slightly impressive for this 2 year old boy) and when we return to the house of the Lord we should be overjoyed and well-rested and ready to be on fire for our faith all over again. And, Reece was definitely ready to play with more energy than he had before his nap.

So, basically...God is amazing and it continues to impress me how he uses everyday happenings to bring Himself into our lives and remind us that He loves us more than we could ever imagine!