There’s an important spiritual lesson in this little walk down memory lane. Many of us treat God like a spiritual MapQuest. “Show me the way,” we ask, assuming that God’s will is like locating the local high school: left on Carefree Highway, right on 56th Street, left on Dove Valley. Make a wrong turn and you miss it entirely.

But what God offers us is a relationship, not a road map. He is less interested in getting us to a certain place than he is in sharing the journey with us.

In the broader scheme of things, the important thing is not how much we have in our shovel, but the fact that we get to do it with God. He’s doing the big part anyway; we’re doing the small part. If we get a few things wrong, God is able to fix it. He won’t let the wheelbarrow tip.

The truth is: He loves being with us, and He loves it when we love being with him. So let’s stop sweating every little detail of our lives, all right? Let’s love God and enjoy making our unique shovel contribution to this grace we call life. When we do that, God is as pleased with us as I was with my son.

So remember Kurt and his toy shovel the next time you’re inclined to stress about life. What a shame it would be if we were so worried about the dirt in our shovel that we missed the greater blessing: the fact that we get to do it with our heavenly Dad.

And if you figure out how to convince my son that shoveling dirt is still fun, let me know.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).