As a child, I remember taking neighborhood walks with my dad. Hand-in-hand we roamed the streets where taught me to look left, right, and left one more time when crossing the street and always walked on the right side of me when on the sidewalk. That way if a car was veering over on the shoulder, they’d get him first. When leaving the park my dad would remind me of different things I need to be aware of when being outside, shortcuts I could take, safer paths home and what to do if ever I were in trouble. I soon turned into a Matilda; wandering the streets alone, knowing my way around the neighborhood and I felt safe because I was prepared. My dad equipped me to know the roads for my own.
Now that I’m in college it’s easy to see how independent my parents have raised me. From making our own dinner to finding our own lost stuff my mother rarely coddled us. Even in high school there was little I needed my parents for; I knew the way around town and most of the surrounding cities and hardly ever left notes, texts or voicemails when I left, not that I was irresponsible, but because my parents trusted me and knew I was safe. They had raised me to be self-sufficient. It’s been two months since college has started and I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve called my parents to help me solve my problems down at school. Whether I am asking about financial funding or the belts on my car I’ve taken care of it myself.
My independence has made my transition into college more than easy, physically and emotionally. Spiritually I feel myself growing weak. In our spiritual walks never is there a time that we should ever feel absolute dependence. If we are not consulting God with our moves how will we know they are the right ones? It’s easy for me to speak my mind and claim it what Jesus would do but hardly ever do I have that backed up by His word. It is our job as followers, not to run the opposite way into the world’s definition of freedom, but to lose yourself in his arms in the actual liberation of his grace and love for us. So as I grow more independent in the “real world” here on Madison in my Freddy dorm room, I pray to become more dependent on Christ and continue to hold his hand as we further my walk each and every day.
