Have a Good Trip, See you Next Fall

BB Asleep

BB was running and tripped and fell.  She is four now and it was a tragic occurance as she picked herself off the ground.  No major damage but a skinned ego and a few tears.  Catching Big Sam her dog was what tripped her up.  It reminded me of this saying of a friend: "Have a nice trip, see you next fall. " Like many pithy sayings it has a bit of a bite to it.  Many times the journey is a trip and we face fall instead of footfall, we get up like BB  wondering what on heaven and earth happened to us.

I have wondered about face falls for some time, since it seems as if I end up there from time to time.  It is always a bit of a surprise when I end up tasting dirt yet again.  So, the reality is that from time to time I can expect that I will end up on the ground and bounce just a bit in the process.  I am coming to believe that those times may be the most important times of my life.

Successes really are not about teaching they are about application of lessons already learned.  Face falls are about learning and being taught on this prayer walk that we are on in life.  So really it is in the de-construction of the elements of the face fall/ face plant that really is the growing edge.  I have found that when I allow the Holy Spirit to speak to me, these are the most instructive times of all.  The real question that I need to answer daily is: Am I open to the teaching of the Spirit of God in all the ways that He is seeking to teach me?  Am I willing to listen when the tears are touching my face yet again, from the latest face plant on the hard ground of planet Earth?

Might I just say that I am much more like BB than I would like to admit, when I find that I have face planted yet again...usually in living color. I ended up crying and carrying on far to long to be helpful, and only after a bit of process can I come to the quiet place where the Spirit can speak to me yet again of hope, of endurance, of patience, of a reality of life beyond this world's confines.

The reality is that face plants happen from time to time.  Any lessons learned in the process for you?  I hope so, that is the only really saving grace to the whole deal for me.