Living Boldly

I love all of my children.  They are endlessly wonderful, endlessly fascinating, endlessly fun. Every day that I get to be their mother teaches me something new.  I love them all evenly, but I confess, there is a special place in my heart for the bold ones.  The fearless ones make me smile and bring their own special joy.

This is not to say that the others are somehow “less than,” but the bold ones find a joy in life which their siblings still haven’t discovered.  I watch them as they venture forth from our quiet house.  Where the others are cautious, these few see only adventure in the great wideness of the world.

It isn’t something I can teach them, they are born with this wild spirit.  From their first steps, their personalities shine through.  Most of my children take hesitant steps, clinging to the safety of the furniture or a steadying hand.  But the bold….the bold two stood early, tested the steadiness of their legs and then took off in determination across the room.  They scaled the living room bookcases, and then learned to climb the backyard trees.  When the rest of us walk together, they burst on ahead expending their energy in a burst of joy and life.

I adore the brazen boldness of these children.  Their bravery forces me to smile and laugh out loud.  How much more must their Creator delight in their chutzpah, their certainty?  God seems, like me, to take a special delight in the bold.  Look at the saints: daring, bold, unconcerned with what others thought, certain, and unafraid.  We should try to be more like them, to place our faith in our Father, to set aside our fears and our smallness and step out into the world clothed in Christ.  How it would make our Father smile to see us take our first shaky steps, growing braver with each moment, living our Faith at full volume and in public, to race forward in life overflowing with all of the Joy our Creator can give.