The sun has decided that it, too, is ready for Spring. I heard it tell the clouds “Get out of the way!” The wind helped and before you knew it the people who have kept themselves shut behind closed doors afraid of the cold, all came out at once.

Or at least it seemed that way.

The park was busy with life. The buds on the trees were pushing, bursting through stretched toward the sun. The grass was finally green and growing faster than the grounds crew could keep up with it.

The honey bees took flight in search of nectar, buzzing around me, taunting me to run away.

It was time for the grandma, grandpa dance with the little ones they were baby sitting.

“Finally, a break!” One grandpa said. “They can run around here. I don’t have to entertain them.”

Sure enough, shortly after those words were spoken, we heard one of the children screaming.

They rushed over to check out the emergency. It was nothing more than a tiny scrape on her knee. Something told me that this child had already learned that nothing is too small for “Grandma kisses” or “Grandaddy hugs.”

She got plenty of both.

Then I heard Grandma say something that was so worldly, so meaningful, so wisdom-filled.

“Well, don’t you worry, now. You could have fallen harder.”

Oh, you know me. Those words danced off her tongue and rolled right up inside my ears and didn’t stop until they took residence in my heart.

When that happens I know that they were meant for me to hear. They were spoken words that needed writing.

Perhaps you don’t see it. It is my job, my self proclaimed and spirit ordained mission in life. I translate the whispers of the angels. I pick up and dust off words thrown about in a conversation. I sift through the wreckage of tear soaked words and turn them back around into a lesson, something useful.

How many times have you fallen?

Not down on the ground from high up. Not stumbling over some seemingly invisible obstacle in your path.

Have you fallen from a safe place where you thought everything was alright?

We all have.

That’s why those words stood out from the rest for me.

“You could have fallen harder.”

Read them now as if God were speaking to you directly.

You are hurt. You are emotionally struggling with a loss.

You were shocked to discover something in your life and you are devastated, drained of all hope.

“You could have fallen harder,” God reminds you.

You know who falls the hardest?

Those without faith. Faith is a cushion, a “down comforter.”

Faith is a soft spot right next to the edge where you could have fallen further.

Next time you find yourself down a little or drowning in self pity and pain, remember that God will let you fall hard sometimes but…

“You could have fallen harder.”

Bob Perks