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One Grandma, trying to let the light of Jesus shine through me. . . reaching out into the darkness with love to little hands, hearts and minds . . .for Jesus.

Friday, February 11, 2011

An Object lesson on "Hitting Bottom" from Stan - Sarah

Sarah - 2 years

Sometimes I can't help but be amazed at the wonderful things our children grow into.  Men and women of  character, making a difference in the portion of the world they touch.  Both Sarah and Stan reach out to those in need of the Lord through their callings.  They allowed the Lord to direct their path and He in turn gave them success in fields they may never have chosen on their own.

But this is a story about when they were young. . .
Tom always liked to let the kids play with creative things. . .like nails, boards and a hammer. (?)
The kids were about 5 and 6 years old, playing in the back yard.
They had taken pieces of boards and hammered them into a tall pine tree in the backyard.
They were "building a tree house" of sorts. . .one that only had a ladder up to the first branch.
Both kids loved to climb and they'd go up and down. . .add a "step" and back down to add another.
Finally they made it all the way to that branch, they could touch it.
I was in the kitchen working and they kids were outside playing when suddenly Stan burst into the room crying out, "Mom! Mom! Come quick!  Sarah fell out of the tree and she's hurt really bad!"
I said, "Can she move?" 
 He answered, "I don't know.  She hasn't hit bottom yet."
He had rushed in to let me know before she even landed on the ground!
We went out and she wasn't moving much, just laying there, with her doll,
her purse and her two sets of shoes.
She had climbed up the ladder carrying all that "stuff".  When she got to the top she was going to take off her tennis shoes and put on her high heels - that change of shoes on the branch of the pine did her in!
She had no broken bones and was able to climb the ladder again that same day, but without
 the extra change of shoes. 



That's a funny story as I remember it now. . .
but it also is a good point to remember about our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
If we see them falling, run to the Lord and get his attention about the situation before they "hit bottom".
We can see when someone is on their way down, we don't have to wait for them to crash before we begin diligently seeking the Lord in their behalf.
And, just like in this story above, it's often the "stuff" we've carried up the ladder with us that causes us eventually to fall. . .too much baggage. . .too worried about putting on "shoes" that aren't made for climbing.




Sarah 6 - Stan 5 Ready for bed but all wound up!


Dear Lord,  Help us to love one another enough to watch for signals of distress.
Help us to have enough wisdom to run to You for those we love and to cry out for Your help.
Lord, help us to evaluate the things we carry with us in this climb up Mt. Zion.
Please reveal to us those things we need to leave behind. . . things that will cause us to fall.
Lord, Help us to listen and agree with your still small voice
before we make a decision that would cause us, or others to "hit bottom".
Amen

1 comment:

JeeperWeepers said...

Wow - so true! Good story and lesson to remember.