Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Staying Close to the Shepherd

When I was a wee girl at the tender age of 5, I began my formal education in a small town in the midwest with a population of under four hundred people.

My mother would walk me to school up the hill about three blocks away from our house each morning. I remember bits and pieces about kindergarten, such as the cards with words and shapes on them to learn the colors, and every now and then I can still catch a whiff of what I think my teachers perfume smelled like. I learned to read almost immediately but I was shy and cautious in group settings. Recess was particularly traumatizing and I recall that I spent most of every recess next to my teacher, standing as close to her as I possibly could.What a patient woman she must have been. I only remember once venturing into the mass of children to play 'Red Rover'. I was a little embarrassed about that later, but at the time it was a survival technique.

Years later, I find myself reviewing the 23rd Psalm and during a particularly tough season, I have been learning to practice staying close to the Good Shepherd. There I feel safe, and there I feel protected. He too is patient, and doesn't mind that I need to be near Him. Indeed, He encourages it. And now, as a mature woman, I'm not the least bit embarrassed.

I guess it is true that what we need to know in life, we learn in kindergarten.