Rescued!

I am not the most graceful person in fact you might call me a klutz; my family does!  I am a girly-girl where my sisters were tomboys.  I am more about soft skills such as singing, reading, writing poetry where they were all about bike riding, sword fighting with sticks, and climbing trees.  They like playing in the dirt and having dirt clod battles where I am more about dolls and coloring books.  They are muscle and deep tans where I am fair and don’t like to sweat.  Ridicule often came to the one who preferred clean hands, trimmed nails, and fixed hair because I was a social moron to playing outside. 

Looking back, I see how it happened.  My best friend required subdued activities due to a heart condition.  We played together because her siblings were adults with kids of their own.  If her Momma got her a coloring book, I got one too.  If my Momma got me a doll, she got one too.  We played quietly and contentedly while my siblings and our friends ran in loud abandon.  It’s been almost 50 years since she went home to the Lord, and I can still hear her laughter, the lilt in her voice as we sang hymns together.  Some of those gentle activities remain as my favorite hobbies today.  Not as a tribute to one of the most gentle of souls I have ever known, but because of ‘conditioning’ to a less strenuous version of fun.

At one point, I guess I was about nine or ten, I decided it was time to learn how to fit in with my siblings.  We still wore dresses to play in, but I think that was a day I had not gone in to put on ‘play clothes’ prior to going outside.  My brother and sisters were on the limbs of a dogwood tree in the edge of the woods behind our house.  Encouraging me on where to put my feet, they directed my steps to climb with them.  It’s all fun and games until my slick bottom shoes caused me to slide right off the limb!  It’s not funny when I can’t reach the branch above to pull myself up, and my feet aren’t touching the ground.  I’m dangling, by the elastic of my underwear!!   

My siblings are doubled over with laughter because, we do that in my family…you fall, and it’s funny, we laugh as we help you up.  I’m crying from embarrassment and pain.  Not only can I not get out of my predicament, the tree had a knot where a limb had fallen off.  A rotting, and dirty, protrusion of wood stuck out from the trunk.  It caught on the inside of my knee and tore all the way up my leg, to my underwear.  One of my sisters finally realized I was in quite a difficult situation and she starting calling out to Daddy. 

Daddy came and lifted me off the tree.  He’s trying not to laugh as I cry into his shoulder.  He carries me to the porch and for the next few hours, Momma and I use peroxide and tweezers to get wood out of my leg.  In fact, splinters worked their way to the surface for a few years after that.  I carry a small bit of the scar today, and the family carries a moment of extreme humor to share with others.  Learned what not to do…monkey's climb trees and I don't qualify!

How often we have moments of laughter followed by extreme pain.  How often we play with abandon only to find, we are flirting with danger.  How often we listen to instruction of others that leads us into precarious situations.  How often the consequences of our actions are life lessons we never forget.

What do you do when you fall?  How do you hold on when you stumble?  When do you cry out for help?  Who do you call when you’re hanging by a thread? 

Our Heavenly Father is there for us in every situation.  Jesus was with me on that limb, and He kept me from hitting my head or breaking a bone.  He was with me as I cried with the cleaning of the wound.  He comforted me as I poured out my heart to Him about being a misfit.  He gently led me to stronger relationships with my siblings by helping them with homework or learning to read.  He taught me how to climb into His arms for instruction and correction.  He’s led me to a compassionate understanding of physical and emotional pain so I can listen to others as I pass a tissue, offer a hug or lift them in prayer.

Are you at the end of your rope?  Isn’t it time to reach for the saving hand of Jesus Christ?  He rescues those who believe He is God come to earth as the Word made flesh.  He died for us so we may be forgiven of our sins; so we may be in right relationship with God; so the Holy Spirit can live within us when we accept Him.  He prepares a place for us to spend eternity.  Jesus loves us so very much and He's waiting for you to answer His knock.  He will never leave you out on a limb, or hanging on by a thread.

"And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you.  He will be with you.  He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed."  Deu 31:8