Call, Don’t Fall

Hello there, sweet readers. Today, I am writing to you from a small, cramped hospital room.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know a little of what we’ve been going through this week. Quite rapidly and unexpectedly, my husband began having strange symptoms of peripheral numbness, weakness, and high blood pressure.

We rushed to the ER where he was admitted and began having every test imaginable. They have truly thrown the kitchen sink at him, and thankfully all the main tests have come back clear of any major concerns.

And yet, the symptoms persist. The questions and guesses and possibilities persist. The pain persists.

And you know what? Waiting is incredibly hard. Uncertainty is incredibly hard. Having to lie flat on your back and stare at the ceiling all day is incredibly hard.

I’m not sure we even realize what a fast pace we keep until something comes along and forces us to slow down and wave the white flag. To breathe and think and clear the distractions. To sit quietly with a loved one and search for comfort in the discomfort.

There isn’t much to look at on these sparse, cream-colored walls, discolored in random places with who-knows-what (#cringe).

Yet everywhere I look, the phrase “Call, Don’t Fall” appears. It’s plastered on the door, the bathroom mirror, and even on the ceiling tiles, lest you get the giddy notion to jump up and shake off the confines of your hospital bed.

We have laughed about this saying and its prominence around the room, yet today, lying next to my husband and staring up at those words, I couldn’t help but think of the spiritual parallels.

How often could calling on a friend keep us from falling into despair? How often could calling on a mentor keep us from falling into sin? How often could calling on our Heavenly Father keep us from falling into unwise decisions? 

We love to find strength and confidence in fierce independence—at least I know I certainly do—and yet God did not create us to live and function in solitude on this earth. We are not lone creatures, but most certainly “pack animals,” meant to experience life within the comfort of families, friends, and communities. 

The beautiful words of King Solomon come to mind:

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV)

We have experienced the truth of these verses during this past week, and oh how thankful I am for family and community. 

And how thankful I am for a God who invites us to call on Him at anytime of the day or night:

“‘Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.’” 

Psalm 91:14-15 (ESV)

Dear one, there is a God you can always call upon—when your foot is slipping, when your mind is racing, when your heart is broken—call, don’t fall in your hurt. Call upon the One true God who loves you so very deeply.

And when the storms are raging in your life? Call on your tribe. When life is overwhelming and confusing and you feel as if you’re falling—call on the people God has placed in your circle, to do life with hand in hand.

Call, don’t fall—and may you and I find the comfort we are seeking!

With Grace,