I was 22 years old, sitting on my Mom’s couch, waiting for the kinks in my back to ease up. A lack of work and money had forced me, my wife, and our baby boy to move back in with my parents. We were all cramped together in my old bedroom and I was feeling down. Thankfully, I had found one new job: helping my son learn how to walk. He had already gone from creeping to crawling, and had started to pull himself up too. Anytime he took a few steps, however, he would stumble, fall on his tush, and cry. I had taken then to bending over and holding his hand while he walked along and my back wasn’t handling it too well.

As I sat there with my eyes closed rubbing my sore muscles I suddenly heard my Mom whisper: “Joe look!” I opened my eyes and watched my son grab the edge of the coffee table, pull himself up, and smile. Next with a giggle he started walking around it, keeping his hands on it for balance. Finally, when he reached the end of it he took two big steps and made it to the wall. He smiled at us again and then started walking down the hall with his hands balancing on the wall the whole way. I laughed, clapped, and cheered. Suddenly, being unemployed wasn’t so bad, because my boy had learned to walk. It wasn’t long either before I was losing weight chasing after him in the front yard while his little legs ran as fast as they could.

Learning to love in this world is a lot like first learning to walk. We far too often fall on our butts and cry. Yet, our Heavenly Father is always ready to take our hand and walk with us while we try again. His love, guidance, and protection are always with us too even after we find our own feet, even when we start to walk on our own, and even if we run away from Him. Don’t be afraid to step out boldly and love then. Don’t be afraid to fall. God loves you and will always be there to help you to love and to walk with you into eternity.