The Walk
Jade, walking with the Lord is not always easy. There are going to be ups and downs, twists and turns, elation and heartbreak. I think that is what I am finding out about in this season I’m in; it feels like the downs in this life will never go back up. Even though I know that is not true, I cannot help but think that when I feel low, I will always feel that way. This way of thinking was a perennial feeling for me before you were born. Different setbacks, heartbreak, and relationships that had gone sour led me to feeling bad about myself, and even my own thoughts betrayed the positive self-image that wanted to portray. But when you came into existence, I had to stop thinking less of myself and walk the road that I was put on, for God had chosen me to be your mother.
Yes, there are many mothers out there, but I am the only mother to you. In that sense, both of us are unique. Since you were conceived, God has chosen me to walk down a road I didn’t see myself walking down, for many reasons, but definitely a path I wanted to take. That path is akin to “the road not taken,” or the less traveled road.
That makes me think of that Robert Frost poem about this walk I am on, called “The Road Not Taken.” It is one of his most famous poems, and I love it.
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The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. *************************************************************************************************************
“I took the one less traveled by” … that’s the line that reminds me of the road I’m on. That road in the bible is the narrow road—the road that leads to life.
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 6:14 (NKJV)
But to travel on the road to life is not an easy endeavor, and neither was the road to your existence on this earth. As the bible says, many are called but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14). Jesus told us that those who choose the narrow path will suffer for His sake because we believe in Him (Philippians 1:29). My biggest question in this season is do we choose Him, or does He choose us? We don’t have to walk this walk alone, but if we, like most people from birth, are walking down the wide path, how do we get plucked off of it?
I have a poetic response to Mr. Robert Frost:
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The Walk
by Tierra Hollis
One day upon an evening stroll
I wandered to a fork in the road.
One path widened while the other was tight—
As if to reason between wrong and right
Yet no direction had been bestowed.
And as the sun began to set
I didn’t know which one would lead me home.
It was not possible to turn around
For what was lost had not been found;
I thought I’d walk down one alone.
I prayed silently to the God above
For some direction on which way to go
And I discovered, not by hearing His voice
I had to make a fateful choice—
One path was pulling me on its own.
I began to walk down one of the paths
And noticed the stream that lined the way.
Surely most people walked down this track
Though narrow, the scenery it did not lack;
Down this path I intended to never stray.
But I found that I walked this path alone
Deep into the thick of the night.
The shadows deepened and I almost fell
Into the abyss of water’s hell;
I had to pull out my candlelight.
I could only see one step at a time
As two heartbeats were swallowed by sounds of the dark.
As tears fell upon the path I took
Backwards I seemed to want to look
But the Lord finally answered and said, “Take heart.”
Hour after hour passed while on this path.
I walked it slowly, sometimes lacking grace.
I cooled my brow with the waters of the stream;
Sounds encapsulating my mind like in a dream—
I worried less about keeping pace.
Just when I thought I could go no further
I heard the birds begin to sing.
And even though I wanted to succumb to the night
Hope began to rise with the morning light
And I understood that joy comes in the morning.
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Jade, the walk down the narrow path is not easy, but joy comes in the morning (Psalms 30:5). You were my joy that came in the morning. I heard God’s voice when I was on that path, but I had to distinguish it from the sounds of the night. You will know that He has chosen You, as He will tell you to “take heart,” just as Paul told the men on the ship taking him to Rome that crashed (Acts 27:25). God is will not abandon His chosen, and He did not abandon me. I did cry several times while walking this path, but not because of you. I cried because of everything that was coming against us. I know you are one of His chosen, because of the journey it took to get you here. See the scripture below:
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. Isaiah 61:2-3
The answer to my question: God chose me and I chose Him, as in an act of synergism. It is like a marriage proposal from God that I said “yes” to. You were the product of that union. Therefore, you belong to Him, spiritually, so that He may be glorified. I love you Jade, and God loves you as well.
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
