Let's not live a totally shell-tered life.

Turtles lay their eggs in the sand, mud ...or what have you, and when the baby turtles hatch, they are on their own.  Well, I'd like to hatch another idea.  But let's start out with simple basic truths:

• We are not turtles
• We do not hatch, and it is clear which mom a baby comes from
• Human babies would simply not survive without a caregiver
• The first caregiver is the mom, within her womb
• Once born, human babies continue to need caregivers
• Human babies learn from their caregivers
• Learning is dependent upon relationship

We learn by association ...the relationship between things that are hot & things that are cold, things that are rough & things that are smooth, things that are sharp & things that are cuddly.  But we also learn about people who are cool & those who are hot-tempered, people who are rough & those who are smooth-talkers, people who are sharp-tongued & those who are huggable.

We all have slightly different definitions of love ...though some aren't slight.  And our definitions change as we grow ...but growth is not just in one direction.  We can grow in appreciation, or we can grow in anger.  We can become motivated, or we can become bored.  But, since this subject is about caregiving ...let's look back to the first moment when we felt we didn't just take everything for granted.  When was the first time we began to really appreciate those who cared for us.  Remember, we are not turtles ...so the fact that we are alive, means someone had to care for us.

There may have been a moment or two, that was significant ...or it may have been just a general time in our life.  For me, it was generally, when I first moved away from home ...going to a college 500 miles away. Being out on my own, without the safety and security of home, was something I had to get used to ...dealing with disappointment and my own failures.  But, another relationship grew at that time ...my relationship with God.

Many of us grew up believing in God, but we can recall those defining moments when we developed an increased relationship with Him ...with a resolve to live a life in renewed appreciation of what God did in caring for us, through sending us Jesus.  Many of us share this as our testimony ...our discovery of the depth of that relationship we can have with Him.

But, others that grew up believing in God, can also tell of how their lives have changed.  Being away from home, does not bring all of us to the same healthy understanding of a shift in our dependence.  Others strive for independence ...and that includes being independent from God, and moving further and further away from that which they may have once looked fondly upon in their childhood.

So, try to recall ...when was it for those of you?  What was the defining moment when you not only stopped acknowledging your Caregiver, your Life-giver, your Creator ...but when you also somehow no longer felt that love?

Again, it has much to do with our definition of love. Many times when children are asked to do things they don't want to do ...they may carelessly say that their parents don't care about them, especially if a consequence is added to the failure to do what they were asked.  But, in a healthy environment, they grow and mature to realize that is all part of love.  There are not only definite consequences to things like touching a hot stove, or perhaps trying to pet a 'stink-kitty' (as my dad called them).  And sometimes we face consequences for things we feel was none of our doing ...the entire family suffered when our dog confronted that 'stink-kitty".

I will try to get to the finish line with all of this.  I'm not just making hare-splitting statements.  But, how beneficial is it to stick our neck out too far, boldly denying God ...or to go within our shell, hiding from His truths.  On the other hand, we can confidently race to where we feel we want to go ...and leave everything else behind, including Him.

Some of us think the world is going too fast.  Others think it is boring, and going too slow.  Too fast, too slow ...a common debate.  But, the important thing is ...that we all eventually get there.

The big question is:  Get where???

" ...seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith ..."   ---Hebrews 12:2