the edge

The Edge. It is amazing when you’re barely hanging on by the skin of your teeth (although teeth don’t have skin) how it takes just the littlest of events to push you right over.

Picture a tall tree. No leaves. Lots of prickly branches. Like they show in Halloween cartoons. The scary trees.

Picture me, Brooke, hanging on by the skin of her teeth to the top branch. Hmmmm…..we are back to the skin of your teeth deal…….there is no skin on my teeth, not sure about yours, but……1. mine are fairly clean, except for the black iron stains now and then, and 2. If yours have skin – seriously, see a dentist. Oops there I go, rabbit trail again! I just can’t stop them.

Back to the tree, if I were trying to hold on to a prickly branch – I would definitely not use my mouth, I would use my hands, preferably with gloves, maybe even hook my arms up over the branch, again, preferably with some sort of sweatshirt or something to protect my body.

Unfortunately, for me, none of those were available. I was holding on, my arms hooked up over the branch. It was a little scratchy, but I was having fun with my friends, swinging my feet back and forth, laughing down at them from the top.

Eventually though, the swinging got old, my arms fell asleep, so I dropped down to my hands. Now it got a little fun again. I could swing back and forth. It tore my hands to shreds, but it was fun in a way. But I was starting to hurt pretty badly. I was fading fast.

I finally had to let go. It wasn’t fun anymore. It was torture. I hit every branch on the way down. Ripping my cloths, bruising my body, landing in a sobbing heap at the bottom.

God wrapped His loving arms around me. He gathered me in His arms, my wounds were healed, He kissed my forehead, I closed my eyes and began to fall asleep wrapped safe in His arms. He whispered softly in my ear, “I will always pick you up when you fall.”