It's Okay to Fall

Okay, let me tell you a story--a really embarrassing story. 

It was the end of the day one day during sophomore year, and I was speed walking from Buckman back to my locker. It had been a really long day, and I was eager to get home. I remember having a stack of books in my arms so high that I could not see the ground in front of me. But in the moment I didn't seem to think that this might be a problem. I was just so ready to get to my locker, so that I could pack my stuff up and be on my way home. Anyways, I had made it up the stairwell, and I was hurriedly walking with my face looking straight ahead towards my locker. I was almost there, but before I could get there I had to go through all the juniors who were packing up at their lockers. I had made it about halfway through them when all of a sudden....I fell. 

I have never been so humiliated. 

A junior, who will go unnamed, decided to place her backpack in the middle of the hallway (I know she didn't mean to), and my books were piled too high for me to see it. I know that I probably should have been paying more attention. Anyway, I didn't see it, so I face planted in the middle of all the juniors. My books flew. My shoe fell off. I bruised my knees and legs. It was so embarrassing. I remember the girl whose backpack it was looking to all her friends and saying: "What should I do?" I then said: "Just please help me up." She did, handed me my books, and I limped to my locker--the locker that I had been so eager to get to. I heard some laughter as I walked away, but I did my best to ignore it. 

It was such a vulnerable moment for me because I had to ask for help in a situation where I was so humiliated, helpless, and hurt. I didn't like people seeing me in such a vulnerable state where I was on the ground and unable to get up. It was so embarrassing. I get upset just thinking about it. I wish I could go back, do something differently, and stop it from happening.

But you know what? Maybe it's okay that it happened because I actually learned a valuable lesson from it all...

I learned that it's okay to fall, and it's okay to be vulnerable and ask for help.

It just takes courage. 

We fall in our daily lives, maybe not physically, but spiritually or mentally. It's hard to fall, but you know what? It's a part of life. We need to fall in order to be able to grow. Just like I needed to fall in order to realize that you don't strut through the hallway without looking at the ground for lone backpacks. 

Whether we like it or not we must realize that falling is necessary in order for us to become stronger. If we never fall then we will never truly know what strength feels like. We have to know what it feels like to be at our lowest point in order to differentiate it from our highest. If you think about it, falling is actually quite beautiful because it is what leads us closer to the Father. God doesn't want to see us in pain, but he knows that it is necessary in order to grow us up. He will always take us by the hand, carry us through the hard times, and pick us up when we fall because he loves us THAT much. 

We just have to be willing to ask for God's help. We have to accept that we cannot get up on our own. We need someone to uplift us and set us back up on our feet. God will do this because we are His children, and He will honor our courage of asking Him for help. I know it's hard to ask for help, but we cannot make it through this life alone. We need help sometimes, and we must never think that asking for help is embarrassing. 

Falling is hard, I know from personal experience, but God tells us differently. He tells us that we should never see falling as humiliating because it is what increases our strength and grows our relationship with Him. And that is beautiful. Falling is inevitable, but we should delight in every fall because it is another chance for us to become stronger than we were before. 

I want you to always know that God will always catch you when you fall, but you have to be willing to ask for his help in your vulnerable state. It's hard, but I promise with each fall and with each time you are willing to ask for help you will become so much stronger than you ever have before. We  must not fear falling and we must not fear asking for a helping hand; we just must have faith. Because falling will never get easier without faith.

Have a wonderful week and stay faithful, friends! 

Much love, 

Gracie