The View From My Kitchen Window

All houses should have a kitchen window.  At least, for me, there is a lot to see in the view from my kitchen window.

It happened many years ago, but it was a view that I can still see in my mind’s eye.  It was one of those significant moments that has always stayed in my memory.

It was a spring day, a Saturday, and I was washing the dishes when I happened to look out the kitchen window into the back yard.  My husband, Mike, was out cultivating the garden with a tiller.  Right behind him was our son, Jeremy, who was four years old at the time.

Mike was moving the tiller very slowly in order to do a good job of breaking up the soil for planting.  My son was just inches behind my husband and each time that Mike took a step, Jeremy took a step. He would carefully put his own small foot in the huge imprint made from my husband’s boot.  Jeremy had to really stretch in order to imitate the larger stride of his father. Very slowly he extended each of his legs, one at a time, almost as far as his legs would go. The process was slow.  He took a step with his right foot and then his left and then he would wait patiently for when it would be time to take the next step.

Sometimes Jeremy would lose his balance because he would become engrossed in a glittering rock or a wriggling insect along the way.  The dog that kept barking for him to come away and join him in a frolic also distracted him.

Yet, even when Jeremy stumbled or fell, when he got up and fixed his eyes on his father, he was able to follow in his footsteps.  Once again he followed ever so slowly and carefully, placing his right foot where his father’s right foot had been and then placing his left foot where his father’s left foot had been.  As long as he concentrated on following his father, he stayed right on the same path and never fell.  Although Jeremy didn’t know it, his father had been watching over him all the time, even when he stumbled and fell.

That view from my kitchen window has remained in my mind until this day.  In one way it is a literal picture of the need of a child for a father’s good example.

It is also an illustration for all of us. We also need to follow our heavenly Father a step at a time and then wait for the next step like Jeremy did with his earthly father

How many times have I bounded ahead of my Father, only to find dry, hard ground that I couldn’t manage because it hadn’t been tilled yet.  I ran into trouble because I didn’t wait for the Father to go before me and prepare the way.

At other times, I became tired of waiting for the next step and began looking around at all the glittering rocks of the world that led me astray.  There were times that I listened to the barking dogs around me too.  They beckoned me away, making empty promises until one day I had almost lost sight of my Father.  Yet, like Jeremy, all I needed was to turn around and fix my eyes on my Father who had also been watching over me all the time.

There can be a lot to see in the view from my kitchen window.

~ Pamela Perry Blaine ~
© December 2005
pamyblaine@blaines.us

About Pamela:  She enjoys writing, music, and country living.  She writes"Pam's Corner" for the local newspaper and many of her writings have been published on the internet as well as in several books.

Pam says, "I have loved music and writing ever since I can remember. I play piano at church and I'm an avid reader. One of my goals is to be able to write for my children and grandchildren so special memories will not be forgotten."  She has a CD entitled "I'll Walk You Home".  If you would like one, they are available by freewill donation.  More information as well as a clip from the CD is on her website at http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htm

[ By: Pamela Perry Blaine, Copyright © 2005 (pamyblaine@blaines.us) -- {used with permission} ]