Falling Coconuts

I was watching a documentary show about NFL training camp the other day and heard the greatest stat. Did you know you are more likely to be killed by a coconut falling from a tree than from a shark attack? For some reason when I heard this it made me laugh, really laugh. I had to immediately post the stat on my Facebook page because this kind of information must be shared. I don't know if this means I should be unworried about sharks swimming with me in the ocean or if I should become worried about standing too close to coconut trees. Either way I guess it is good that I don't have a trip to Hawaii planned anytime soon.

But as I thought more about the stat I started to think about how many weird ways a person can die. And how often what scares us is not what is going to kill us. We worry about earthquakes, tornados, monsters and witches, skydiving and airplanes. But it is rarely the dangerous things that hurt us. Hockey boy has had stitches three times in his life. He is a very active boy who climbed to the top of the play structure before he was 2, jumps out of trees and plays what many consider a dangerous sport. But it was jumping on his bed, running into the wall in our house, and hitting his head on the coffee table in a hotel room that caused all his stitches. I chose a long time ago to trust that God has my kids in His hands. I believe that God has a plan for my kids and loves them more than I ever could. So while I am not going to let them play with fire or drink poisons, I am not going to be a helicopter mom who follows my boys around the playground making sure they don't fall.

Doesn't mean bad things are not going to happen. They are. Coconuts are going to fall out of trees. Kids are going to need stitches. Parents are going to get cancer. Friends are going to lose children. I can't control the bad. All I can do is roll with the punches knowing and trusting that God is in control. I can either cling to that truth, cling to our sovereign God or get knocked around. I chose to cling.