Looking for a place to feel inspired and challenged? Like to share a smile or a laugh? Interested in becoming more familiar with Canadian writers who have a Christian worldview? We are writers who live in different parts of Canada, see life from a variety of perspectives, and write in a number of genres. We share the goal of wanting to entertain and inspire you to be all you can be with God's help.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Trust Heavenly Father - Gibson
They joined the Bruce trail at Old Baldy on the Niagara Escarpment: the Preacher and our teenage son. It’s been decades now—just yesterday in memory for them both.
I likely warned them before they left the house, exuberant, eager. “Baldy’s lumpy. Tree roots and stuff. Stay away from the edge.”
Eye-rolling. “We’ll be fine.”
That evening, after everyone was home again, calm again; son in cast and both subdued, I pieced the day together. Our son, tackling a cliff, had tumbled. Tree branches broke the speed of his fall. Thirty feet or so down, the landing broke his arm.
No way up—except for his father, who clambered down to fetch him.
Ever tried to climb a cliff face with only one good arm?
“Dad, I can’t,” he said, terror splashed naked on his boy face. So the father stuck his child between himself and the cliff. Spidered him up. Leg on leg, arm on arm. “You’ll be fine, Son. Just do what I tell you.”
I still shudder at the final moment, the one just before safety: boy alone on a ledge reaching up, father stretched full out on a tree limb, reaching down. Hands meeting, grasping. Guts twisting. A one, a two… SWING. Child traces an arc through clear blue.
Terra firma.
How much do you trust God? Enough to believe he meets you at the bottom? Enough to know that even when you feel abandoned, terrified—even when it’s YOUR fault—he has a plan?
You can trust him that much. Do what he tells you. That's your Father stretched out on that tree.
Find columnist and broadcaster Kathleen Gibson at
www.kathleengibson.ca
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
Write Canada is more than a professional networking conference. It’s a safe place where beginning and intermediate writers can learn ...
-
I've been writing professionally for most of my adult life. My first novel, THE JOSIAH FILES was published twenty years ago by Thom...
-
Our coordinator suggested that in our April posts on this blog site we might “write a post about who we are and what we write. . . . [and w...
-
No one has to tell writers that they're up against some pretty big obstacles these days. The latest Tsunami to hit the writing/publishi...
-
The profile picture was blank and I had not seen a post from Charlie since 2012, but earlier this month, Facebook notified me that it was h...
-
I couldn't resist that as a title. I love it when we get new words added to our dictionary. I love especially the word 'blogosphere....
-
by Reverend Dr. Ed Hird Life is messy. Family is messy. Marriage is messy. Church is messy. How do we navigate through the complexitie...
-
Yes or No could be so boring at times, can't it? To catch my drift on the topic, click on the video below: This clip is part of ...
-
When I was in the seventh grade, our class was required to read a book called Jean Val Jean. As I got int...
-
Jonathan Goforth Missionaries Jonathan and Rosalind Goforth arrived in China in March 1888. Their assignment to open a new field in the ...
6 comments:
Lovely post. Thank you for sharing.
:)
Heart-stopping. Breath-suspending. Relief unending!
Thank you Kathleen; and thank You, Lord.
~~+~~
Thanks indeed...to my friends above, and my Father above. If you guys are at conference this weekend, come away replenished!
Dear Kathleen,
A great story and illustration well written.
Thanks.
Eleanor
Hi Kathleen,
I read this late, but what a rich comparison. And how do you manage to say so much in so few words?
Post a Comment