One of the many things that I love about Jenna(our 16 month old daughter) is that she is an outside girl. She absolutely loves to be outside, doing anything. In the last couple weeks we have had some unseasonably warm days, so Jenna and I have gone outside to take walks. Since she started walking in December, she has not really experienced walking outside by herself. We walk up and down our street a couple times and then she gets tired and go inside.
What you must know is that I compulsively walk fast. I am often accused of being in a hurry, when in fact it is my normal walking speed. Jenna is teaching me to walk slow. She loves to look at every little thing, so we walk a little and stop a little, which makes the two block walk last awhile. She has a great time being outside, and I have a great time spending time with her. But it is hard for me to walk that slow, and so she is teaching me things. She is teaching me to observe everything, and to pray for our neighbors.
I love these walks with her, even if they only last five minutes, it is usually the best five minutes of my day. Can’t wait for consistently warm days, so I can learn more patience with Jenna.
Ben Schnipper 