Cracks in the Sidewalk

Today is my daughter's 4th birthday. It hard to believe that four years ago I stood in the delivery room asking our doctor, "Well, what is it?" and he promply replied, "It's a girl!". My heart skipped a few beats in that I knew how to deal with boys. With two sons already, I had the talks all laid out in my head, the sports balls in the garage, and dreams of watching SEC football together all planned out. "It's a girl!" ruined me. Absolutely ruined me. And I'm so much better for it! There is a special place for daughters and my Lily has her daddy's heart. I'm not sure if it's her eye contact across the dinner table and we both instantly smile at one another or if it's the times when she shows me exactly where the items go in her dollhouse, but she has my heart and I love her more each day.

A few weeks ago we were walking hand in hand and I noticed that she was skipping over the cracks in the sidewalk. When we would approach a crack, she'd pull on my hand just enough to help step over it. At every crack I felt her tug on my hand as she hopped. Hop, hop, hop, crack, crack, crack. After a minute of this I looked down and asked her why she skipped over the cracks and she responded, "I don't know, I just do."

I've been guilty of intentionally missing the cracks as I walk too. I don't do it every time I'm on a sidewalk, but occasionally, I'll adjust my stride just enough to miss the cracks. (I've also been guilty of concentrating too much on missing them that I look rather ridiculous.) It is interesting to think about the cracks in the sidewalk. Most sidewalks are made with gaps every few feet to allow for expansion and movement. These gaps are considered cracks by many, but without these "cracks" the sidewalk would most likely buckle, become uneven, and eventually become useless.

Most of us have "cracks" in our lives that might seem unsightly or at least inconvenient. Divorce, a failed career, physcial disability, depression, a difficult family member all might be cracks in our lives. Sometimes we find ourselves trying to skip over these cracks. Hopping over them is somehow a way of ignoring them. But these cracks may be necessary for growth. They enable us to withstand outside forces and many times they are necessary for us to fulfill our true purpose. Maybe we need to stop trying to skip the cracks and learn to accept their potential usefulness in our lives, relationships, workplace, or ministry. As you're walking the sidewalks of life don't skip the cracks, but embrace them for His purpose and glory. Just as the concrete worker allowed gaps in the sidewalk, so does our Creator allow our cracks and who knows how he plans to use them.

Happy Birthday to my sidewalk crack hopper. May you learn to embrace what God has given you and use them to impact the world.