Dominique McCrary
Since the coronavirus pandemic broke, my family only leaves the house for essential things. During this time, we have been much less active than before. One day, we wanted to start taking walks in hopes to stay healthy. On one very hot day around noon, we set out on a walk. It was me, my husband, our eight-year-old daughter, and our dog. My husband and I wore sauna suits in order to sweat more and get a really good workout.
It had been a long time since we walked together, so we all started out with a good pace and positive attitudes. As more time went by, we walked slower and it got extremely hot while walking. Our eight-year-old daughter must have been tired, too. I encouraged her to keep walking, telling her we would be home soon. We reached our halfway point, turned around, and began to walk back home. Although she was very tired and sweaty, she kept walking without complaining or whining. I was really proud of my daughter. My husband must have felt the same for her.
“That’s enough walking. Come get on my back. Since you made this much effort to walk, I’ll carry you the rest of the way. God too helps us when we make efforts.”
It was very touching to see him carry her on his back even though I could see how tired he was. But soon I felt extremely tired, especially in the sauna suits. At this point the sweat felt like rain drops all over me. I was overwhelmed with exhaustion and began to speak about how I felt. I uttered words such as, “This walk was a terrible idea,” and “I can’t do this. We have too far to go!”
My husband and daughter encouraged me. When I stopped walking, they patted me on the back, and when I barely began to walk again, they walked slow to keep pace with me. We finally made it home. As soon as we got home, I drank a lot of water, fell on the floor, and just laid there to catch my breath.
After some rest, I kept thinking of what I had complained on the way back home. My words of complaint made it harder for my husband and daughter to walk in the hot sun. I apologized to them from the bottom of my heart for discouraging them with my complaints.
Now I realized how we must speak and behave as we walk the way of faith toward the Kingdom of Heaven. Though our journey to our heavenly home is not easy, we must never give up going to our heavenly home. No matter how hard things get, if we keep pressing toward Heaven, we will be able to reach our destination some day. Also, speaking encouraging words can help give strength to one another. On the other hand, grumbling makes our walk of faith difficult, discouraging and hindering us from pressing forward. I never want to hinder my precious brothers and sisters. Instead, I always want to speak uplifting and encouraging words. From now, I resolve to speak only encouraging words to brothers and sisters as I walk the way of faith.