Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2
I love it when a doe brings her fawns out for their playtime on our property. It all starts with a glimpse of a doe moving slowly along the path. She keeps stopping and looking back. When I see her doing that, I start getting really excited and pay close attention. There’s a good chance that the year has brought another generation of fawns into our world. I have to focus to get a peak of those little ears poking out above the ferns. When they emerge from the woods, it’s playtime for those little fawns! They romp and play without all the worries that mama has.
Those new parents all seem to have the same look on their beautiful faces. It’s a look of patience, tolerance, and acceptance with a bit of weariness thrown in. The little ones have a joy of life with an untamed energy pouring out of their tiny bodies. They run around kicking up their heels as Mama goes about her business of finding a tasty snack consisting of my plants and flowers. She isn’t trying to get them to match her maturity, yet there’s no doubt who the leader is. When she leaves, they follow.
The character trait for today is Tolerance-Accepting others at different levels of maturity (definition from characterfirst.com).
That mama deer is very natural in her treatment of her babies. She accepts the stage they’re in and quietly guides them to the next level by her actions. She leads by example. We could learn so much by watching God’s amazing creatures in action!
As Christians, we want everybody to be exactly where we are in our walk of faith. Most of the time, the heart’s in the right place. We think we know what will help people because it worked for us. We want to help, but we need to help like that mama doe, instead of being like a yippy, high-strung dog. We need to show humbleness and gentleness. This is more likely to encourage forward momentum. Forcing our ideas that repel people from God working in their lives is the last thing we want.
I challenge you to take a lesson out of a mama doe’s playbook. Wisdom needs to prevail, and in this area, we should lead by example. Remember, there are people out there wishing we’d finally get what they’ve been trying to tell us. We want them to be accepting of us without getting too frustrated themselves. Lead by actions, talk when asked!
