This morning as I was sitting outside drinking my coffee, enjoying the warmness of the morning and watching my cat eat grass, I noticed an older, gentle, man walking with a little girl.
She could not have been any older than two, in her cute pink coat and beautiful blond hair underneath her white hat, walking hand in hand with what I supposed to be her grandfather.
She was enjoying her wonderful new world, the bugs at the curb, the birds chirping, the feel of the grass and I noticed that every moment, her grandfather was holding her hand. The grandfather, well pleased with anything that the little one was curious about, was content to watch over her carefully. Looking to see if any car was on its way down the tree-lined street, checking to make sure no one was going to harm this little bundle of joy.
He talked with her, bent down to show her a bug crawling on the street in front of her and then watched her intently as she tried to play with the bug. When the bug adventure was over, the journey continued around the corner and down the next street.
The little girl, so free in her life, started to dance and skip as they made their way to a brighter street that had fewer trees but more sunshine. She was excited to go down the street, but distracted by possibly another bug, started to turn around and go back to where they had just come from. The grandfather, fully aware of every gesture, every move, every smile and every word she made, hung on to her hand securely, making sure she was well protected. Nothing was going to interrupt her walk this morning.
She hung tightly onto the grandfather’s strong hand trusting him to lead her on her little journey, to see more cute little bugs, or pretty flowers to smell, or just to spend time on her walk with her loving grandfather.
As I sat there watching the lives of two people I did not even know, God, in His picture words, very clearly spelled out my walk with Him. He showed me that no matter where I have been, God, in His infinite love, has held on to my hand, watching everything I do.
God does not hover over me to find everything wrong with me but He is always there to enjoy what I enjoy, never letting me out of His sight. Even when I have turned my own way to go back to where I came from He was still there, whispering in my ear the way to go and gently leading me to go with Him. At times, I am sure, I thought I was going my own way but His hand was always in mine, guiding me.
God did not leave me in the middle of the street unprotected from the unknown but made sure that He watched every move I made, guiding me toward the right way of living.
Hand in hand with my Father.
by Bonnie Belden
Glad to have found it.
This reminded me of my dad and my daughters. We were all “baby” to my dad. He was Papa to his grandchildren. He gave all 4 of the girls away when they got married. He was an amazing man,who loved God and his family. He use to say,”I wonder what the poor people are doing today”. He and my mom were not wealthy by any means,but they knew they were very rich. We,as their family have continued in their footsteps. How blessed we all were and we knew it.
God is indeed with us I thank God for his guiding hand
My dad died when I was 5 and his father, my grandfather, died before I was born. I did not have a close relationship with my maternal grandfather not that I did not want to, but that was the way it was. I did visit my grandfather, but for some reason he remained aloof.
So even when I did not acknowledge Him in my youth, now I know that my Heavenly Father had been holding my hand throughout my life and eventually brought me into a loving relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. I know now that I would not have made it in this life without His hand upon me and now my hand is securely in His forever. He will never let me go, nor do I want to walk through this life without Him. I love Him with all my heart. I am so thankful that He is a Father to the fatherless. Praise God for His unconditional love and for healing my heart of growing up without an earthly father’s or grandfather’s hand to guide me. He is awesome!!! I cannot praise Him enough for what He has done and is doing in my life as I yield to Him. So if you are reading my message and your heart is aching for a father’s love, place your life and your hand in His and you will never be alone again. I’ve experienced His love and He is no respecter of persons. His arms are outstretched to all who hear His voice and come to Him as you are. He will never turn you away. I love you, Abba Father!!! Thank you for sending Jesus to cleanse my sins and reconcile my relationship with you. To you be all the praise forever and ever. Amen
I have the blessing of being a grandfather 5 times over now and always amazed as to how there is always more love to share equally to each of them…I don’t love one more than the other, I don’t love one less than the other…..each are a beauty of His personal handcrafted creation, each have a unique personality, all make me smile even more in wonder….then I stop and I look at myself in these later years knowing He is still holding my hand too!
He held my hand when there was no dad to do that for me when I came into this world and I am forever grateful….now I get pass on the blessing.
My heartfelt thanks to the Almighty God and Father who watches over me every moment!