I feel somewhat like Alfred, butler to the Caped Crusader. This is due, in part, to the fact that being a butler is probably the closest I will ever come to being a superhero. The other reason is that I took my kids skating yesterday. And... well,... there was a lot of falling.
This was the first time that my older two had been on real roller skates, as opposed to the plastic deal that fits over your shoes. My 4-year old still had those and she had a blast. But the older two looked like Goofy on skates, all while wishing out loud that they could have skates like their younger sister. And why not? Have you seen little kids with these skates? The only time she fell was, I think, more of a pity fall for her older siblings. She is used to imitating them, so if they fell, it must be fun. But the rest of the time she clodded along as if doing her best impersonation of Forrest Gump running when he first loses the leg braces.
After kissing the hundredth boo-boo from my other two who simply refused to look natural on skates, I pondered why we fall down. Here's what I've come up with.
1. Our feet don't come with wheels. God could have, but He didn't. I think I saw why yesterday.
2. The entertainment of others. Watching people fall down is funny. Especially when watching them try not to fall down. That's even more funny.
3. To strengthen our bodies. Nothing hurts more than a bruise on top of another bruise, but the pain will help you remember when you were upright and cause you to figure out how to make that the norm.
4. We get distracted. I didn't mean to inflict any more pain, but every time I cheered on my son for skating exactly a foot and a half without falling over, he would look my way and promptly lose his balance.
5. We get over confident and move ahead too fast. Again, it's funny to watch, but there is a sinking feeling one gets when they realize they will fall harder due to higher speeds.
Finally,
6. To get back up again. Ok, maybe I got this one from a Batman film. But it is true nonetheless.
Every experience, good or bad, teaches us something. Most of mine, in some way, have taught me that God has got my back. I don't think He's pushing me over, but He is helping me up. And so I will continue to skate. For starters, it still feels good to blow by those 9-year old girls and leave them in your dust. It doesn't matter that I'm more than 20 years older than them now. They still can't catch up. But mostly I will continue to skate so that my last memory isn't of falling down. After all, why do we fall down?
This was the first time that my older two had been on real roller skates, as opposed to the plastic deal that fits over your shoes. My 4-year old still had those and she had a blast. But the older two looked like Goofy on skates, all while wishing out loud that they could have skates like their younger sister. And why not? Have you seen little kids with these skates? The only time she fell was, I think, more of a pity fall for her older siblings. She is used to imitating them, so if they fell, it must be fun. But the rest of the time she clodded along as if doing her best impersonation of Forrest Gump running when he first loses the leg braces.
After kissing the hundredth boo-boo from my other two who simply refused to look natural on skates, I pondered why we fall down. Here's what I've come up with.
1. Our feet don't come with wheels. God could have, but He didn't. I think I saw why yesterday.
2. The entertainment of others. Watching people fall down is funny. Especially when watching them try not to fall down. That's even more funny.
3. To strengthen our bodies. Nothing hurts more than a bruise on top of another bruise, but the pain will help you remember when you were upright and cause you to figure out how to make that the norm.
4. We get distracted. I didn't mean to inflict any more pain, but every time I cheered on my son for skating exactly a foot and a half without falling over, he would look my way and promptly lose his balance.
5. We get over confident and move ahead too fast. Again, it's funny to watch, but there is a sinking feeling one gets when they realize they will fall harder due to higher speeds.
Finally,
6. To get back up again. Ok, maybe I got this one from a Batman film. But it is true nonetheless.
Every experience, good or bad, teaches us something. Most of mine, in some way, have taught me that God has got my back. I don't think He's pushing me over, but He is helping me up. And so I will continue to skate. For starters, it still feels good to blow by those 9-year old girls and leave them in your dust. It doesn't matter that I'm more than 20 years older than them now. They still can't catch up. But mostly I will continue to skate so that my last memory isn't of falling down. After all, why do we fall down?
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