Walking the Tight Rope

Do you ever have those days when you feel...like you are walking across the Grand Canyon on a cable holding onto a bar that weighs who knows how much?

Do you even know what I am referring to?

This past week, Coach and I watched a man cross the Grand Canyon on a cable wearing no safety harness. It was the longest 22 minutes...for real.  Watching this man walk across a giant canyon on nothing but a cable almost did me in.  Heights are one of my biggest fears.  I get nauseated climbing a ladder to get something off the shelf in my kitchen.  Not a fan of heights at all.  As I watched this man, my first thought was he was crazy.  My second thought was that he was insane.  My third thought was how on earth is he doing this?  The cable was swaying...the bar was swaying...the wind was blowing...and all he had to hang onto was a cable...with his feet.  I mean...thinking back to it makes me as nervous as when I was watching it.  Twenty-two minutes.  That's how long it took him to cross the canyon.  He talked about how the optical illusions were more than he was prepared for...and I can imagine.  Just seeing it through the lens of a television camera was enough for me to cling to my bed.

So today and in the past few days, I've had a similar experience.  I did not walk across a canyon on a cable. I didn't even climb a ladder.  What I did and have been doing all summer is a balancing act to say the least.  And I'm having one of those moments much like when the man on the cable asked Jesus to calm the cable.  He spoke to Jesus all the way across the canyon asking him to calm the winds and slow the cable.  I get it...I do.  There are moments in my day when I am begging Jesus to calm the wind.  I say this like I have been in great torment. I have not.  I am just a little overwhelmed and under prepared for life with teenagers and a six year old.  We are in the car more than we are at home.  We are taking and picking up every 45 minutes...or so it seems.  I am trying to do some much needed upkeep to our home and trying to prepare a classroom and a class for my first year of teaching.  Coach is busy teaching driver's ed. to help support our baseball habit and Brady is just trying to enjoy his summer as a six year old.  Big has a mowing job, but isn't a driver yet.  This leaves him in a position to need help getting to his jobs and getting this done.  Middle has a very busy social life and needs to be driven all over the town for his social needs.  (much like his Momma)

As most of you know, I struggle to finish tasks that I start.  Not because I don't want to finish, but because someone needs something that prevents me from finishing what I'm doing.  I found my phone in my refrigerator the other day.  IN THE FRIDGE.  No doubt someone needed a drink as I was going to hang it up.

Jesus...calm the winds.  

I may have mentioned that I washed and washed and washed a load of laundry because I kept forgetting to move it to the dryer before it got yucky and mildew-y.  (That is my own made up word)

Jesus...calm the winds.

I turned the wrong way out of my neighborhood on the way to get Middle from basketball camp.  It took me until I got to the bank to realize I wasn't going to the bank and that I should have turned right.  Middle was less than pleased when I pulled up and he was standing in 102 degree temperatures.

Jesus...calm the winds. 

Sometimes...I feel like I am walking on a cable over a gaping hole in the earth.  I can't let anything drop because I'm the mom and that is what we do.  We perform an amazing balancing act with life.  Five schedules...one mom.  What seems like seventeen different activities in 24 hours...one mom.

That man made it across the canyon because he had been preparing for that moment (22 to be exact) for a long time.  He had faith and he had skill.  He moved slowly and gracefully.  He spoke to the Lord at times when he was unsure. He kept his eye on the prize and he didn't fall.

He had faith that the one who made him would deliver him safely from one side to the other.

I think he is crazy.  But I also think his faith is amazing.

If I could rely on God from sun up to sun down and move slowly and gracefully, perhaps I wouldn't have those ugly moments of motherhood.

Sometimes...life can give us more than we can handle....alone.  But that is the beauty of loving God.  We never have to handle the craziness alone.  We can walk the tight rope battling the winds and the optical illusions of life...knowing we do have a safety net.

Whatever is moving your cable or shaking your faith...stay strong.  Take it one step at a time knowing you are not walking your tight rope alone.

Have a blessed day!
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