We don’t always get a say when the bottom drops out.
Our children experiencing unexpected growing pains. Someone that we care for suffering a painful illness, a friendship we leaned on that vanished, even a piece of ourselves that we thought was unbreakable, could be gone in a snap. It feels like failure. Standing in the ruins with nothing left to carry forward.
Falling apart isn’t always the end. It is the break that makes space for something stronger to grow. The waxing crescent in tonight’s sky is proof. Just a sliver of light, nothing to brag about, but it is the beginning of something new. Growth doesn’t arrive all at once, it creeps in quietly, building night by night until the whole moon burns bright once again.
That is how it works for us, too. The first step back after failure doesn’t shine. It’s small, shaky, and easy to miss, but it is still movement forward.
If you are staring at the pieces of something that once mattered, don’t mistake the wreckage for the end. Sometimes what breaks apart clears the way for better things to fall together.
Whenever a Shepkid fell off a tricycle or out of bed or running along the sidewalk, I would quickly say, “What do we do when we fall down?”
Through tears and crying they would reply….
… “get back up Dada!”
Time to get back up ________!
