The Love of God-Lessons of a Barefoot Childhood
The Love of God – Lessons of a Barefoot Childhood
When I was a young girl growing up, I loved being in nature. If I weren’t in the fields working, we would be making our own playground. We didn’t get a lot of fancy toys made in China, or computer games, or TV to keep us locked in the house all day. We made go-karts to fly down the hills on with no helmets and no way to stop them at the bottom.
We created flying genies out of a tree stump, a plank, and a nail. Life wasn’t easy, but it was never boring. We ran the hills barefoot, stepped on rusty nails, broken glass, drank water from a well, and from the creek. We lived in a gray board, dogtrot house, about a mile off the main road. Nature at its finest.
The Gift Season Was Always Fun
Christmas was always fun, but never overloaded with gifts. After all, with 7 kids in the house and not a lot of money, we didn’t expect a lot. When I was very young, there were always two dolls, one pink and one blue. I always got the blue one, and my little sister got the pink one. One year, I ran and grabbed the pink doll. I wanted the pink baby doll so badly, but it wasn’t to be. She started crying, and Mama made me give it to her, and it broke my heart.
I always had to give in to my sister because she was younger than me. Don’t get me wrong, I love my sister and my mom. It taught me that although life isn’t always fair, I’m still loved. God has strange ways of teaching us life lessons, even when we are kids.
My dad wasn’t a perfect man, but he was fair, he loved to read, and I learned to love reading from him. I learned to read the Bible and to love Jesus.
As We Age, We Learn And Understand More About Life
Time changes us all, as I’m older and understand more about life and how God shows his love. I have learned that walking in the countryside, I can feel my Heavenly Father walking beside me, and I feel his love with every step I take. You can see His hand in everything around you. You can feel the warmth of the sun and feel the arms of the Son holding you.
I John 4: 7-8 tells us that God is Love.
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
Romans 10:13 tells us that all who call on His name will be saved.
“For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
John 3:17 tells us that He didn’t come to condemn us but to save.
“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
Closing
Even now, when I reflect on those simple days, bare feet on warm earth, laughter echoing through the hills, the quiet strength of my parents, I see how God’s love was always present.
It wasn’t in grand gestures or perfect circumstances, but in the small mercies: a shared smile, a comforting word, a doll passed from one sister to another. Life taught me that love is sacrificial, enduring, and often found in the humblest places. And through every season,
God has been faithful. His love has carried me, shaped me, and reminded me that no matter where we begin, we are never beyond His reach.
If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior, my prayer is that you will open your heart and invite Him in today.
Blessing be yours,
Mary Ingram
All scripture is KJV.
