What if Laura Belle Barnard had stayed on the sidewalk?

Get Off the Sidewalk

by Neil Gililland

The house in which I grew up was probably less than 500 square feet. From the back door of the little, gray-shingled structure stretched four steps that emptied onto a narrow sidewalk. The sidewalk inched its way past two sheds and ended at the outhouse. The sheds were filled with the smell of the earth and garden tools, onions and potatoes, bicycles, baskets, burlap bags, and assorted other treasures.

For those of you who are younger or from a more urban background, an outhouse is a little building that is about 50 feet too close to the house in the summer, and around 50 feet too far from the house in the winter.

But what rattles uneasily in my memory is the sidewalk—that little strip of concrete—maybe 24 inches wide.

Mom kept it swept and clean. It was an easy guide if you had to make your way to the outhouse at night. But it was a tedious place for a little boy to spend hours in wait. You see, when I was little, mom would tell me, “You have to stay on the sidewalk until the morning dew has dried. I don’t want you to get your shoes wet.” Not being the brightest child in the family, I never thought about responding, “My shoes will dry just like the grass” or, “That’s fine. I’ll just go barefooted.” Instead, I sat or paced the sidewalk...waiting.

Do you ever wonder if the other disciples urged the young, brash fisherman Peter to “Stay in the boat Peter. Don’t get your feet wet.”

Do you wonder if some well-intentioned Antioch church member pulled Paul aside and said, “Paul stay here. Don’t get your shoes wet.”

Do you think some parents are saying, “Hey, stay here on the sidewalk. Don’t get your feet wet. It is safe and dry here on the sidewalk. Wait until the grass dries.” The only problem is, the grass never dries, and their children never get off the sidewalk.

What if Laura Belle Barnard had stayed on the sidewalk? The Free Will Baptist church in India would not have thousands of participants if the Cronks and Hannas stayed on the sidewalk. Last year, the stadium in Côte d’Ivoire and an auditorium in Brazil would not have been filled with believers celebrating 50 years of mission work if the missionaries who shared the gospel in their lands had stayed on the sidewalk.

Your shoes will dry. Better yet, go barefooted. But, get off the sidewalk.

About the Writer: Former missionary Neil Gililland is a member-care consultant for Free Will Baptist International Missions. Read more about the Mission at www.fwbgo.com.