Storytime Lessons With A Toddler

Having a nephew beginning to enter into that “toddler” phase is both a joy and a trial. A joy because he loves helping me put my clothes in the laundry basket, and a trial because if I forget to applaud him for helping, a fit only befitting a toddler might occur. But despite his toddler-ness, one of my favorite parts of being an Aunt is getting to read stories to my lil' buddy. We read lots of bible stories and animal books, but also sometimes, the classics.

In remembering the classics I was struck by the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. In case you haven’t been in touch with your classic storytime-self in awhile- I’ll refresh your memory.

Once upon a time…There was a Hare and a Tortoise.

This hare thought he was faster than all the animals of the land. He challenged anyone in the kingdom to a race if they thought they could beat him. Annoyed with his bragging, a tortoise stepped up. The most unlikeliest of all the animals. Through a bizarre set of events the Tortoise ends up beating the Hare, simply by putting one foot in front of the other.

“His master replied, ‘Well done good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

-Matthew 25:21

Someday I will stand before my Creator with awe and trembling. I really don’t want to hear,

“Well done, good and successful servant you were lazy and then would sprint, be arrogant and then would sprint…”

I want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant, you put one foot in front of the other and walked toward me with everything you had…”

The pressures to do the “Big” things for Jesus will always be there. To arrogantly run this race as a full-on sprint to the end, as opposed to humbly walking this road with my hand held firmly to my Father.

I don’t want a crown of glory as much as I want to just make it.

The Tortoise didn’t have some blind faith that he would make it to the end and would beat the Hare. He simply trusted that slow and steady wins the race….Do I have the trust of the tortoise, or the arrogance of the Hare?

Faithfulness is not the arrogance of running but the perseverance of walking.

The Hare sat and waited till the end of the race so he could sprint to the finish line and receive all the glory.

The Tortoise faithfully trusted that with every step he took he was fulfilling what he was supposed to do.

I want to be the Tortoise.

Am I taking an action step of trust today that I am faithfully walking the way I should?

One step, two step, three step… Well done good and faithful servant.