Ice Skating

Last night I took my cousins, Sydney & River, ice skating. As I look back on that trip to the rink I can see a valuable lesson.


The trip started out with excitement and anticipation. We hopped in the car and headed over to the Dr. Pepper Star Center to enjoy our evening. When we got to the rink the nerves began to set in, Sydney and River began to wonder what they had gotten themselves into. I think the realization came to them that they couldn't learn ice skate with out falling down a little bit but they wanted to push through their anxiety and give it a try. So we tighten up our skates and headed out to the rink. Upon entering the rink both Sydney & River had a death grip on the side. I decided that I would first help River learn to skate. I started my lesson by instructing him to grab onto my hand which resulted in him only having one hand on the side. So with one hand on the side and one hand holding mine I began to explain to him the basics of skating. During the process of my explanation I warned him that when he let go of the side he was going to fall down while learning to skate. I explained to him that falling was apart of learning but I would be right there to help him up. After my explanation I told him to let go of the side and just hold my hand. As he let go I began to lead him in skating, during this time he was wobbly and on the verge of falling but each time he lost his balance I would hold him up steady until he could skate again not allowing him to fall. I knew if I let him fall too early he would quit. After a few feet of holding my hand he asked to let go. Before letting go I reminded him once again that he would fall but I would be there to help him up. Sure enough within the first couple of minutes he fell down but he was prepare and so when he fell he reached for my hand to help him up and continued skating. After a little more time he was ready to skate fully on his own. At this time I decided I would try to help Sydney but she was already too frustrated that she could not skate that she did not want to learn because you see when she was first beginning there was no one there beside her encouraging her and teaching her.

As I thought about this ice skating event it kinda reminded me how important it is to have people in your christian walk who are further down the road than you who have been in the places you are currently in. These mentors can warn that "okay you are going to fall and its going to hurt but I will be here to help you up again." Just like I was there with River. If you don't have that person you will be 10 feet down your journey and be frustrated and want to quit just like Sydney.

I don't know if that made sense to anyone else but it was a great picture for me at the time.