Thursday, December 20, 2007

Lessons from a Fallen Angel

More than twenty years ago my grandmother gave me some beautiful and delicate little wooden angels. I believe they are imported from Germany and, at one point, someone told me they are quite valuable. I just think they are cute. The set includes about seven angels, all doing something different, like holding a star, or pulling a wagon full of gifts. Most of them are not more than 1.5 inches tall; micro angels, if you will.

So, each year during the Christmas season, I set them on a shelf in the bathroom. It may seem like an odd spot, but my shelf is the perfect size to show them off and keep them from getting lost. The problem that I seem to be encountering this year is that one of the angels keeps falling down. I’ll walk past the shelf and there she’ll be with her nose facing the shelf and the little star she is holding laying flat on the ground (of the shelf that is). So, I pick her up and set her back in place. It doesn't happen every day, but often enough. I suspect the hair dryer might be providing the gale force wind that is keeping this angel from staying upright.

After about the fifth time of picking up this poor fallen angel I got to thinking. I am, to this angel, what my friends are to me. You see, there are times when I’m down - not necessarily face down on the floor, although that happens, too – but down in the dumps. Some gale force winds in my life leave me depressed or out of sorts and I need a friend to come along and help me stand upright again. God has been most gracious and brought many friends into my life that I can depend on to help me up when I fall. They are one of His greatest gifts to me.

I have considered moving my little wooden angel out of the path of the hair dryer winds, but then I decided that each time I pick her up it would remind me to thank God, once again, for my amazing friends. I pray that you all have a blessed Christmas.

1 comment:

Matthew Nowlin said...

Ah, but I hope your friends wouldn't put you in a place you always fall down again when they help you up. ;)

Merry Christmas to you as well!