Life on the High Bars
From my spot near the baby swings I spied her legs dangling mid-air. White–knuckled Hannah was hanging high above the playground. Before I could reach my aspiring gymnast, she lost her grip on the playground’s tallest monkey bar and slipped clumsily to the ground. Woodchips flew as my six–year–old fell with a SPLAT.“Honey, are you okay?” I asked as I raced to my daughter’s side. She wiped the spikey woodchips off of her backside, wiped a few tears from her eyes, and jutted her chin in determination. Without a word, Hannah began to climb the ladder that led back to the monkey bar that she’d just failed to cross.
“Are you sure you want to try that one again?” I asked surprised. “There’s another bar over there.” I pointed to a shorter bar in hopes of enticing Hannah to safer ground. I hadn’t packed band–aids and I wasn’t in the mood for a spontaneous E.R. visit.
“Mom,” Hannah replied with a sigh of exasperation, “I don’t want to miss the chance to do something great today!”
Humbled, I wondered how many opportunities I’ve bypassed this week to “do something great.” As I watched my brave daughter struggle across the high bars once again, I prayed that God would infuse me with similar resilience and courage. I’m not sure why, but motherhood has muted my desire to take risks. Perhaps I spend so much of my day trying to keep my children safe- Put on your bike helmet! Don’t hang over that ledge! Don’t swing your sister around like that- you’ll pull her arms right out of their socket. Don’t jump off that ladder! Look both ways! Watch out for your little brother. Hold my hand- that I’ve settled for safety over greatness. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want foolish progeny. No doubt, I want to raise children who wisely heed danger. But I don’t want to raise children who settle for the low bars if God is beckoning them to the tallest tower on the playground.
If I don’t want my children to settle for mediocrity, then why should I? By the grace of God, I want to do GREAT THINGS in the eyes of my Maker and discover, in the end, that it was well worth the risk!
Perhaps this excerpt from the personal journal of Pete Greg echoes my heart best:
It would be easy to miss my life a day at a time. It’s all become too easy, too predictable, too safe. . . But that was never what I wanted. What I wanted— what I want—is you. To know beyond a doubt that I am seizing the moment, sucking the marrow from each day, right at the center of your plan…
Red Moon Rising, p26
“After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’
“The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master’s investment. His master commended him: ‘Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.’
“The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’
“The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.
“‘Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.’
