Sometimes, when I walk, I make it to my intended destination without folly or fault.  Other times I am not so lucky, last night was one of those “not so lucky” times.  It goes like this.  It was late, the house was dark and the kids asleep.  It was fairly quiet and calm in my house, except for the sounds of my husband and his friend singing along to Elton John songs with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.  Beyond that, all was well in the Trevino household. Until. Until I smelled a smell like that of a dog park trash can on a hot summer day.  Oh no.  Now, I should say that I had been drinking a small glass of wine before this, and was goofing around on my phone when I stood up and decided to investigate.  With phone in one hand and wine glass in the other, I marched off into the hallway anticipating that I would be giving our large pup a scolding for having gone potty in the house.  Now, considering the elements leading up to this moment, you would have expected me to turn on a light, right?  Slow down and walk gingerly, anticipating a slippery or stinky surprise in the darkness?  Nope.  I marched off into the darkness with reckless abandon.  About five feet into the dark hall my foot made contact with a large invisible mass stretched out across the room like a trip wire.  Wham!  I went down.  Luckily, I didn’t go down far, thanks to my compact stature, but I went down hard.  WHAM!  First my knee smashed into the floor, then the rest of me. Phone, empty wine glass, glasses, everything splayed out across the dining room floor in front of me. I want you to imagine a middle aged woman doing the worm in slow-mo, but backward.  That was me, no dance training required.

Now, I have to say that every night for the past two years I had been warning myself against tripping over our invisible dog.  He is huge, hard to miss, but easy to ignore in the dark.  He blends in to the silent darkness, concealed by his lazy, careless nature, and his inconspicuous color pattern of black and more black, with a hint of dirt. Which also happens to be the color of my floor when you look at it in the dark. He was perfectly camouflaged.

There I was, melted to the floor four feet past the sleeping, careless, body of my dog beast.  Pain and aches manifesting into every neglected muscle in my body (all of them).  Then, the decision, to laugh or to cry?  The glass of wine I had sipped rather quickly chose for me.  Hysterical, unhindered laughter burst forth from my bruised and battered body.  My husband rushed to my side, standing above me with a confused look on his face, as I writhed in pain on the hall floor, but laughed with hints of insanity.  Snorting, there was also snorting.  As the pain increased and the throbbing in my knee intensified, I wanted to cry but I couldn’t, overcome by the silliness that wine unleashes in me. Not only was I physically incapacitated, broken in the darkness, pined down by the force of gravity, I was also mentally incapacitated by my choice in beverage. Had I chosen whiskey I could have gotten out a proper cry, the ugly kind with wild snot and an inadvertently placed word of vulgarity.  That is how a sane person would respond to such an event.  I was completely out of control of me or my emotions, a dangerous place to be.  I eventually got up off the floor, I eventually hobbled up the steps, and I eventually stopped wine laughing and started life laughing.

This morning I woke up with a sore and swollen knee, a bruised arm,  and the overwhelming feeling that wrapped up in all this ridiculousness are some pretty basic spiritual lessons as well as life lessons.

So here it is, “Rachel’s Short List of Does and Do Not’s When it’s Dark and You Smell Poop in The Air”.

First; Don’t walk around in the dark when you know you belong in the light. Duh, don’t walk around in the dark looking for poop at all, it’s not your calling, or mine.  When God does ask us to walk around in the dark He tells us to shine a light, He tells us to be in the darkness but not of the darkness. We are to go into every earthly situation with the light of His word illuminating our path.  Telling us where to step and where to stop.  Like a fool I went walking strait into a trap where I thought so highly of my own five senses that I feared not the beast that was waiting for me. Spiritually speaking, the enemy wants the same response from us when we go about our daily lives.  He wants us to rely on our own pride and five senses, walking in darkness, so he can trip us up and cause us to fall.

Second; Be alert, be mindful, pay attention to your surroundings. I knew the danger that could be waiting for me, but I ignored it, walked strait into the darkness like I belonged there, and like I forgot who and what actually does lurk there, just waiting for me.  I put down my guard, I ignored what I knew to be true, and I went down hard as a result.    If we use this same mentality in our life and our faith, failing to put on the Armor of God daily, failing to recognize and accept that danger exists, we will always be one step away from a disaster.

Third;  Don’t get drunk on wine when you know whisky suits you better (okay, maybe that’s stretching it a bit).  But, it is no joke when situations in life cause us to act in ways that are not conducive with who you are in Christ and who God is calling us to be.  I was completely out of control of my emotional response.  Allowing our emotions to control us, rather than controlling our emotions, is the difference between sanity or insanity and will often dictate weather or not we come out of our situations with victory or regret.  It might even dictate if we come out of a battle with blood on our hands, because our out of control emotional responses to life can often lash out at those around us, causing us to inflict harm and pain on others.

I’m sure there is more to be learned from this situation, but I need to just stop and dwell on these things a while.  Chew them up and digest them so I don’t trip on the dog again or trip up on life in general, physically or spiritually.

End note, I’m still laughing. I hope you’re laughing too.  I know we can come up with a million bible versus that teach these simple principles. I would look more of them up but I’m busy falling down on the floor and changing diapers and stuff. Help a girl out and hit me with them in the comments…I can’t do all the work.

I also have to report that the dog did not poop, must have farted.  There is a whole new lesson here on our perception of reality and how it drives our actions.  But, I’ll save that for next time.

Live, learn, grow, repeat.

*These verses are in no particular order and should be taken in the context of their place in the Bible.  Not sure what’s going on?  Read at least 20 verses before and after the verse to get a better perspective of what is happening in each situation.  These are just a handful of verses that came to mind, but there are many, many more.  “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.” Psalm 119-160

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12

“Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.” 1 Corinthians 14:20

“Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.” Ephesians 4:23

“But when anything is exposed but he light, it becomes visible.”  Ephesians 5:13

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12

Ephesians 6: 10-19

“You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” 1 Thessalonians 5:5

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.” 2 Corinthians 11:14