Near

Near

But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign LORD my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.

AS LIZZIE STOOD on the cusp of kindergarten, I was most nervous about the school bus.

My own childhood experience along winding country roads taught me what happens in the back of the bus. I remember the bus bully, the teasing, the language not appropriate for little ears. And, given my own experiences, I told my sweet daughter the cardinal rule of all bus riding: sit near the driver, as close as possible.

When the first day of school came, I wiped a stray tear or three, waved, and watched until the bus disappeared around the corner. As the week wore on, I watched her little head bobbing past window after window while she wove her way off the bus in the afternoons—obviously coming from a seat at the very back of the section she was allowed to sit in.

It was sometime that first weekend when she quietly confessed to trouble. A first-grade boy would sit next to her or nearby while chanting, “Kindergartner, kindergartner, kindergartner.” Rather than get angry or say I told you so, I helped her brainstorm solutions, pondering what she might do differently Monday morning.

When the bus pulled to a stop that Monday afternoon, I smiled secretly as I saw two little girls seated immediately behind the bus driver. As my girl bounded off the bus, she exclaimed, “It worked! That naughty boy tried to tease me and the bus driver told him to leave us alone!”

I am no different than my daughter. I know life is best lived near to God. I know that we need to spend time in his presence, in the Bible, to pray first before reacting to difficult circumstances and situations—and yet I sometimes allow busyness and distractions to interfere, to drift me toward the proverbial back of the bus and away from the driver.

Lord, keep us near to you, drawing us back to your truth and your foundations when we are tempted by the empty allure found in the back of the bus. Amen.

-Julie

One Good Step: Pick one way to draw closer to God this week —worship music in the morning, praying while in the shower, listening to Scripture as you go for an evening walk.