Tuesday, February 25, 2014

We Will Fall Down A Lot!

I took my six year old daughter, Maria, to her first ice-skating lesson yesterday. Her instructor, Miss Emily, is such a gem. The first thing she said in the lesson was "Who is afraid of falling down on the ice? We're going to be falling down a lot when we learn how to skate. That's okay! The first thing we'll learn is how to get up for the ice after we fall down!" Then Miss Emily proceeded to show the group how to calmly and safely get up from the ice after a fall.

As a recovering perfectionist, I heard that lecture with wonder. It's expected to fall down! We will fall down a lot. The best way to learn how to skate isn't to worry about how to avoid falling, but to learn how to get up back up on our feet with the least amount of struggle and fuss.

What a lesson for my spiritual life! I shouldn't be so shocked when I sin. I'm imperfect. It's going to happen. Plus, God is constantly throwing me into harder and harder situations. Rather than stress about falling, I need to focus more on learning how to cheerfully get back up on the ice after a fall!

Thank you Mimi! Well worth the long road trip to take you to skating lessons yesterday! Go Team USA!