Slip

Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It’s truth and life, and it’s truth for life.  One cold winter day as a freshman in college, taking the long cold walk to the gym that evening for a workout which I never missed.  It was unavoidable to not notice the young lady who was working at the gym entrance.  I’d seen her before, she was beautiful, a senior, kind and gracious.  No one else was around at that moment, just the two of us, as I walked in.  And as a freshman myself – just a little unnerving – despite my overblown confidence.  An hour and a half later – feeling buff, heading out the door into the cold dark night, I tried to say something charming not stupid, before my departure…  I wasn’t trying to hit on her, she was dating the star of the baseball team with professional aspirations.  Both young people were Godly and influential, and likely headed to marriage, but I still wanted to make an impression.  Unfortunately, God obliged me.  I no sooner stepped outside the double glass doors in full stride when I hit a patch of ice.  Without warning, and without remedy, my feet went flying in the air, and I landed flat on my back in a matter of two seconds.  Staying there for a moment, trying to gather myself, staring at the sky, painfully aware of how ridiculous I just looked, then feeling the cold water on the ground seeping through my backside.  I carefully resumed my upright position, and had to do something.  Desperately hoping she didn’t see, but knowing that was impossible, I poked my head back in the door, with what certainly must have been the lamest comment in history.  She was so kind, she tried to pretend she didn’t notice, but I could read all over her face her desperate attempt to keep herself from bursting out laughing.  Which I certainly appreciated, but all hopes of any appearance of cool – were dashed forever.  Doggone black ice…  If you’re not careful, you can slip.  Have you also noticed?  That most of the time, slips don’t come that way?  They’re not that obvious.  They are not the feet in the air – land on your butt kind.  They are mostly the slip-sliding-away kind.  Just little by little, not all at once.  No-one notices, until you can’t help but notice.  Getting too busy for that daily time with God, that relationship in prayer and His Word.  That time of putting him first before the challenges of the day - slips a little.  As if hitting the days demands before spending time with him – has any chance of success.  Praying that you’ll avoid black ice outside of gymnasiums.  But praying more that you’ll notice the unnoticeable slip – so you can get back on track, before the drift becomes worse than the fall.  So you keep that priority relationship in your life – your first priority.  So success will hunt you down, so wisdom will define you, so His peace will surround you, and your joy will abound. 
 
Love you all,
dad