"Falling Down"

     Recently I had two of those 'life's most embarrassing moments.'  The first was on a beautiful Friday evening.  My son-in-law, daughter, and grandson had met my husband and I at "Bill's".  "Bill's" is a great place.  They have miniature golf, a driving range, and restaurant; what more could you ask for?! 

     We began the evening hitting some balls at the driving range.  Now I am anything but a good golfer, while my son-in-law is quite adept at the sport.  I teed up a ball and wham!  What a shot!  About 150 yards and straight as an arrow.  Who said the age of miracles is over.  Anyway, as I finished my swing and was watching my shot, I started to teeter . . . Slowly I fell to the ground in a pretzel-like configuration.  No one in the family, or for that fact anyone, saw my great shot . . . But EVERYONE saw me on the ground!  The laughter eventually subsided.  Later, when we got home, we took the messages of the answering machine.  My son-in-law, daughter, and 4 year old grandson had taken turns leaving messages stating, "Hey, you fell down."  Again we laughed. 

     A couple of weeks later a contractor was preparing to pour concrete in our driveway.  The are was covered with reinforcement wire, which I had been walking over for a few days.  Cement man, Dave, and his crew were going about their business when I left for work.  Dave warns, "Watch out and don't trip on the wire."  Waving him off I replied, "Don't worry, I've been walking over this stuff for a week!"  The words were no sooner out of my mouth than my foot caught in the wire and I went airborne.  I landed head-first, head butting the forms, then my knees hit next.  Wow!  That hurt!  The crew gathered around to see if I was alright; however, pride wouldn't let me admit how much it hurt.  I was helped up and meekly got in my car and drove away, dying of embarrassment.

     Isn't that a lot like life.  Things are going great in our spiritual walk.  Maybe we're starting to walk with a little swagger . . . then CRASH!  We fall down.  Somehow Satan slips in there and places a stumbling block in our path.  Humility and caution are vital to our Christian walk.  Or maybe it's not us that falls, but someone else.  What do we do?  Do we stand by and 'laugh', enjoying their demise?  (Not that I blame my family for laughing . . . the look on my son-in-law's face was a MasterCard Moment!)  Or do we show our concern, gather 'round and lift the fallen brother or sister?

     We all fall down.  The question is:  How to we deal with it?  May God help us to walk humbly in His shadow and help those who have fallen.

-J. Watson

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