STRONG LEGS STILL STUMBLE
I have mentioned before what a fireball our youngest is. She is determination and pure force. One of my friends jokes that her walk is step, step, cartwheel, step, step…. It seems like she is in constant motion.
I knew she was really sick when she didn’t join tackle football during a picnic…well…not for more than five minutes. She only jumped from rock to rock for a bit; then, she needed to be carried. She even laid by the fire.
My warrior child was wounded.
For two weeks constant motion had met its match, but rest, snuggle time, and medicine brought her back to keeping a balloon in the air for an hour and bouncing instead of sitting on the couch.
During her illness, I reflected on the way we approach life. We (or maybe it’s just me) expect ourselves to conquer everything everyday. We admonish ourselves when the smallest things fall through the cracks. We expect perfection where just getting it done would be enough. We believe we have to never falter. When, really, even the strongest and bravest people still stumble, and the world does not fall apart.
What?!?!?! How could I say the world will not fall apart if the house isn’t spotless, if the kids don’t get to do an amazing activity, if the laundry is waiting behind the closed door, or if the work at the office has to wait for a day?
This goes against everything in me. Everything must be done. It must be done immediately and perfectly.
However, when we get sick, the world continues without us. Things aren’t quite how they would have been, but everyone and everything is fine. We can stumble a little, and the world will not crash around us.
So, why do we wait until we are sick to give ourselves permission to walk instead of run, to make brownies instead of perfectly sculpted turkey shaped cupcakes, to eat Chinese food out of the container instead of an all natural organic home grown meal, or let the papers that need to be graded sit an extra day?
I’m not saying we let everything go. I’m saying we don’t have to wait until our strong legs stumble. We can take a few breaks here and there. We can Sabbath, even God did it.
Strong legged leader, it is okay if you stumble here and there. It is also okay to let your strong legs be still. The world needs you, but you don’t have to carry the weight of it.
Rest, snuggle, and find some medicine for your soul. You can keep all the balloons in the air another day.