falling

I am not really a football fan, but I learned the game watching my boyfriends in high school and loved cheering for my team in college (go BYU!) From time to time, I will sit with my husband and watch the game of the week…or month…or year whatever it is he says is playing. Sometimes I will ask him questions to get a little refresher course and sometimes he will volunteer game strategies…which is how we came to be talking about falling forward.

Anyone who knows the game of football and has played the game of life for any period of time will be able to see quite a few fairly obvious analogies. Of course, the one I have been thinking about lately is the importance of falling forward as we meet the challenges in life.

It is inspiring to be with people who meet challenges with dignity. My mom is one of those.

As a side note and a matter of interest, Mom has a curved staircase. There are several stair lights that she keeps on all the time as a safety precaution. She has been very concerned because the one at the top has been burned out. As part of our errand- running, odd- job doing adventures,  I was able to help her fix the light.

I worry about her on the stairs. Because they are curved,  the steps are different widths depending on where you put your foot to navigate them. Having fallen down my own, quite standard, stairs a few times, I try to be especially careful on these. I didn’t think Doug had ever fallen on our stairs. When I asked him, however, he told me that he had fallen Up the stairs…okay, I don’t really get that, even though he did explain it to me.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t help thinking about the lights on my mom’s stairs and how grateful I am for them, for my own sake, but mostly for hers.

And then I thought about the Light in my life and how grateful I am for that Gift which helps me navigate all the time,

but especially when I fall, whether it be forward or backwards.