Did you know that babies have a fear of falling almost from the moment they are born? Watch a baby when you just let them fall a couple of inches. Even if they are cradled in your arms the entire time you'll see their little arms spread out wide, and their eyes get large (the moro reflex).

If you really stop to think about it, it seems cruel that we as parents instinctively play games where we throw them in the air and catch them. Every toss makes their little hearts pound and their breath catch in their throats.

But there is something else going on as well. At the end of each "fall" Mommy's arms or Daddy's arms are there to catch them. What we are telling that little person is, "You are safe in Mommy's/Daddy's arms." We're building TRUST.

From my observation it must be an effective strategy. The fear of falling is replaced by a sense of security. Before long it's a full time job to keep the little tykes from jumping off bunk beds and riding their bikes over small cliffs. As a girl I remember climbing rocks near our house that were several stories high. I was a little mountain goat. My mother would've had heart failure if she had witnessed my sheer abandon as I perched on ledges just inches wide.

But that all changed later in life. My fear of falling returned. First I was thrown by a horse, broke an arm and severly bruised a hip. A few years later (when my son was 2 months old), I fell while roller blading and broke both arms. Within the next 5 years I went on to break on arm again and a foot. Life taught me that it HURTS to fall sometimes! Not only does it hurt, but it takes a long time to fully heal.

Life is like that in our Christian walk as well. We feel the loving arms of our Heavenly Father cushioning our falls and learn to put child-like trust in him. He allows us to feel those moments of fear so that we come to trust him. We learn that it's okay, we are safe.

Then somehow we get independent and leave the comforting arms of our Father to jump our own obstacles in life. Before long failed marriages, troubled children, mistakes.... so many things teach us that falling hurts, and that it can take a long time to recover.

But just like the parent who picks us up, bandages our bleeding knees, and wipes the tears from our cheeks, He's right there to wrap his loving arms back around us. And just maybe, we're content to rest safely in his arms.

For a while, anyway...