Baby giraffes never go to school. But they learn a very important lesson rather early in life. A lesson that all of us would do well to remember. The birth of a baby giraffe is quite an earth-shaking event. The baby falls from its mother's womb, some eight feet above the ground. It shrivels up and lies still, too weak to move.

The mother giraffe lovingly lowers her neck to kiss the baby giraffe. And then something incredible happens. She lifts her long leg and kicks the baby giraffe, sending it flying up in the air and tumbling down on the ground. As the baby lies curled up, the mother kicks the baby again. And again. Until the baby giraffe, still trembling and tired, pushes its limbs and for the first time learns to stand on its feet.

Happy to see the baby standing on its own feet, the mother giraffe comes over and gives it yet another kick. The baby giraffe falls one more time, but now quickly recovers and stands up. Mama Giraffe is delighted. She knows that her baby has learnt an important lesson: Never mind how hard you fall, always remember to pick yourself up and get back on your feet.

Why does the mother giraffe do this? She knows that lions and leopards love giraffe meat. So unless the baby giraffe quickly learns to stand and run with the pack, it will have no chance of survival. Most of us though are not quite as lucky as baby giraffes. No one teaches us to stand up every time we fall. When we fail; when we are down, we just give up. No one kicks us out of our comfort zone to remind us that to survive and succeed, we need to learn to get back on our feet.

As Christians, we need to learn the same lesson that baby giraffes learn: when life kicks you down, you must get back up. You must never give up! Our soul's survival depends upon our ability to

persevere. James says, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried. he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him" (James 1:12).

When things go wrong, Satan would love nothing better than for you to throw in the towel and give up on faith, God, Christ and the church. That's his goal-to get you to quit short of the goal of salvation. He wants you to become so frustrated that you will simply quit. Don't let him get to you. When life knocks you down-get back up! Eric