Our one year old granddaughter was here for the weekend and found her Oupa's shoes in the kitchen. He and I like our shoes "in"conveniently lying around where we can trip over them at regular intervals… and so Amelia decided to try them on for size. The photograph her daddy took of her is so precious! The little legs with the enormous shoes coming up to her knees, her Oupa with his stockinged feet behind her and the look of delight on her little face all speak to me of the wonder of life!
How often do we find ourselves "trying on" new experiences or skills? We come across something that prickles our imagination and we try it on for size. "Can we make a go at this?", we ask ourselves. The first emotion is delight and excitement until we take our first step. The reality of the situation hits us and we quickly lose our enthusiasm as the difficulty of moving becomes exhausting. Even one step takes all our energy. The shoes are too big. We are too small. But give us enough time and practice and we find the strength to take two steps and then three. We grow in strength and stature because that's the rule of nature and soon we have filled the shoes that were so overwhelming.
Later we may even find time for relaxation. We might take our shoes off and leave them lying around for some other little person to find and try on. Maybe we stand behind that little one and help them balance and even assist them in taking a step, enjoying their triumph and joy and hoping that they, too, will persevere until they have mastered something new and succeeded in something that once was far too big for them but will fit them perfectly in due course.