Maybe I should have been a stunt woman. Since I have tripped and fallen most of my life, I have become an expert at it. Especially on stairs.

When I was 12 years old, I sang in the seventh grade choir. Let me make one thing perfectly clear: I can’t sing. At all. I basically was in it for my mom’s sake. She loves music and studied it in school, so she was always excited when I joined a choir. Also, it was a good excuse to drag my dad to a concert.

I was an alto and I didn’t sing very loud at all. Why? Honestly, it was an act of mercy for those who were standing near me. Anyway, we had a huge Christmas concert planned at school. The choir director told us girls to wear long dresses. I didn’t think a thing about it until I told my mom.

“Where will you be standing?” she asked.

“On the back row of the stands,” I answered. “Why? What difference does it make?”

“Because you will have to be extra careful to make sure you hold your dress high enough so your high heels won’t get caught in the back hem of it. If you do, you’ll fall off the stands,” she warned.

Instantly fear surged through me. She was right. I struggled walking in jeans and tennis shoes.

I worried about that for the next couple of weeks. The night of the concert, I was extra, extra careful. I walked slower and made sure the hem of my long skirt was up enough as I climbed up the stage stairs and onto the back row of the stands.

Once I stepped off the stands and back onto the stage, I gave a big sigh of relief. I had done it. I had managed to walk without falling and embarrassing myself. I was relieved just a little too soon.

The stairs we used to enter and exit the stage were not behind the curtains. Oh no, that would have been too convenient. The stairs were in the front sides of the stage. That meant the whole auditorium could see us climb up and down them.

As I went back down those side stairs, I didn’t hold up the hem of my dress. Of course the heels of my shoes caught in the back hem. I went down. I went down in front of God and everybody sitting in the auditorium.

Even now, I remember bouncing down the steps on my behind. And as I bounced down those steps, I desperately grabbed out for the hand railing. I reached out in vain for I missed it with each bounce. I bounced until I landed on my behind on the concrete floor.

I did my usual where I immediately popped back up. The girls in front and behind me were laughing. The people in the first few rows of the auditorium were laughing.

You know, it’s kinda ironic I tripped at a different place than I thought I would.

“Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.” Proverbs 4:26 (KJV)

Obviously, I have never really pondered the path of my feet when I should have, but that is something we should all do. Not just physically, but spiritually as well. Do you ever stop and think about the path you are on and where it will lead you? Have you avoided one path, but end up on one just as bad as the one you tried to avoid?

Let me tell you, the path of your feet requires a daily check. That’s one reason I have a tub prayer every morning.