You would think that someone who has lived to reach the wise old age of 46 would know better. What you “see” is not necessarily to be believed.
Meteorologists had predicted a snow and ice storm for my town over the weekend. Like thousands of other lemmings, I trekked to the supermarket to lay in some staples: bread, milk, eggs and toilet paper. (Does ANYbody really appreciate what an overlooked blessing toilet paper is? Do you realize that in some 3rd world countries they use their bare hands to, um.. take care of business? Eeew!)
Ready for the storm, I arrived home and put away my purchases..shoving aside the small penicillin farm growing in the leftovers in the fridge to make room for the perishable stuff (I know, I know…I really need to clean that out) and hiding (yes, HIDING) the new four-pack of toilet tissue lest it be squandered and I be stranded at home without…trapped in my house by that whopping ¼” of ice and 3 – 5” of snow we were to get.
The storm that was forecast turned out to be the storm that never was. Not that I am complaining, mind you. 1/10th” of ice and just 2” of snow was fine by me. Even better, by midday Sunday it appeared the stuff was beginning to melt. If you can believe what you see, anyway.
Needing to load up some clothing and books destined for a charitable organization, I hoisted a box up on my shoulder and trotted out the door to my car. I never made it. At least not in the way I envisioned.
Where there had been snow and ice on the driveway, I now only saw puddles of water. Water was even dripping from the roof. Unless God had completely rearranged the laws of physics as I slept the night before, water where there had once been frozen stuff was STILL a sign of melting, right?
What I didn’t realize because I could not “see” it hiding in plain sight, was that there was a considerable patch of ice under that water. Yeah. I know you know what came next.
Remember those New Balance sneakers I was so proud of in my last post? Their traction is worthless on ice. (Why don’t they disclose THAT in their advertising? C’mon! Even Conair attached a label to my blow-dryer warning me not to use it in the bathtub. They must have known I was going to buy that very one…)
Do you ever wonder WHY - when you’re in the process of falling - time slows down and you have far too much time to think? And do you ever wonder why - as you’re falling - you don’t think “OH NO I AM GOING TO BREAK EVERY BONE IN MY BODY,” but wonder instead who might be watching as you fall on your pride and break it to pieces?
One minute I was upright, confident. The next I was wobbling like one of those “Weebles” toys that were advertised some years back. You remember them. “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down?” I think they wobbled without falling because they were egg-shaped. I’m sorta egg-shaped, but it didn’t work for me. I busted my weeble right there in front of God and everybody.
I fell forward, in sloooooooooooooow motion, landing on my hands and knees and as I knelt there wondering who was watching, I fell again…somehow rolling onto my side. I lay there for what seemed like an eternity, taking inventory of my limbs and digits to be sure I could still move all of them without pain. It was the c-c-c-cold water soaking through my jeans that jolted me back into the here and now and compelled me to get up.
Get up.
Yeah right.
Rolling back onto my front side, I did one of those “girl pushups” they teach you in middle school…only to have both arms and knees splay out in four different directions on the ice. Imagine a gangly baby giraffe trying to stand for the first time and you’ll have an accurate picture.
Somehow, my hands finally found purchase and I was able to prop myself up on one knee, but my lesson in humility was not over. I realized quickly that I was not going to be able to stand without falling again because I was still on ice. Have you ever seen Chuck Berry play guitar? You know that thing he does where he hops along on one bent leg with the other stretched out straight in front of him? That’s how I had to travel across the ice to make it to my car. I stayed low to the ground, but I didn’t look anywhere near as cool as Chuck Berry.
Ultimately, I completed my mission and delivered the box of “stuff” to my trunk. I decided “charity” would have to wait for better weather to get a donation from me. Hadn’t I then and there given enough???
Safe inside the house a few minutes later, I soothed my bruised ego with a slice of sausage pizza and thought about the act of “falling down” and how – spiritually speaking – God protects us.
Psalm 145: 13-14 says of God, Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
I like the way that same verse is worded in The Message paraphrase, too - Your kingdom is a kingdom eternal; you never get voted out of office. God always does what he says, and is gracious in everything he does. God gives a hand to those down on their luck, gives a fresh start to those ready to quit.
Whatever the season, be it the slippery dead of winter when your feet won't stay under you....or spring in its surefooted newness of life, God is just sooooo good
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