We have a new puppy. Her name is Maybee. She is adorable and sweet and cuddly. But she leaks. Every time you pet her or she gets excited, she piddles on the floor before we can get her outside. I’m not a big fan of little puddles on my floors.
So, the other night I set up a long piece of reclaimed wood across the top of our stairs to the lower level so that puppy would not go down and christen the carpet down there . It was so long that it extended across the walkway between the stairs and kitchen. I warned Blake to “be careful not to trip”. Within minutes I came out of my room chatting away, oblivious to my own words of caution, and slammed into the wood with my foot which sent me flying to the ground face first. It was a source of great entertainment to those her were in the kitchen talking to me and saw my talking face suddenly disappear behind the counter. I just laid there for a few minutes, in pain and stunned that I had ended up like this after warning others to avoid this literal downfall.
I woke up yesterday morning to soreness and new bumps and bruises. The aftermath of my little adventure. Needless to say, I put the board, that I split in two with my fall, away. Funny thing is, it didn’t do what I had intended it to do at all. While I fell on my face over it, Maybee jumped right over it with no effort at all. Ironic, huh?
Sometimes in life, we trip over stuff. Stuff that we have maybe even warned others about. We don’t think it will happen to us. Because we are “aware”. But even with our eyes wide open (as mine were), we aren’t looking in the right direction. We are distracted and busy and in a hurry and don’t realize where our feet are taking us. Until we fall flat on our face and are left with the bruises that come as a result.
The board was representative of the big things we trip over. The major “oopses” in our lives when we make big mistakes in our lives that should have been avoided. Things that causes damage to us and those around us. But what about the “small” stuff ? The small rocks we trip over or even tripping over our own feet? I think of those things as our attitudes, our reactions to things, our responses that are out of line and hurt not only ourselves but others. Pride and selfishness that trip us up and keep us and slow us down on our journey of love and selflessness. Anger, bitterness or unforgiveness that block our path to reconciliation and healing.
I could have spent the rest of the night on the floor where I landed. Part of me wanted to because of the pain and humiliation. But I had things to do and people who were depending on me. So I got up, removed the board so that I wouldn’t repeat the same mistake and finished baking the homemade rolls for Thanksgiving with my friend. I had to keep going. I couldn’t let the trip and the fall keep me from doing what needed to be done. I couldn’t let the “road block” keep me from going where I needed to go.
Same in life. When I fall, when I overreact or make a mistake, I need to get back up, deal with the issue and move on. They say that pride comes before a fall. Well, humility comes AFTER a fall. And that’s a good thing. It reminds me that I am capable of falling at any given time. That just because I am aware of the “boards” sticking out, does not mean I won’t trip over those same boards. And that when I fall, I need to extend my hands upward to the One who can help me back up to hit the trail once again.
Let’s help each other with the roadblocks in our lives. Not waiting for each other to fall, but helping each other to avoid tripping. And if and when we do fall, to help each other get up and try again.
Hebrews 10:24 – Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 – So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
Matthew 7:3 – Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
