We just returned from a family snowboarding trip to Red River, New Mexico. It was a Spring Break vacation/ 16th birthday present for our daughter, Maddie, who has always wanted to snowboard. I like those kind of presents-the ones that benefit everyone! We had fun snowboarding for the very first time. Needless to say, Maddie looked like a pro pretty much the first time she went down the slope. Me? Not so much, although I did have those moments when everything seemed to work just right. They usually occurred right before I fell on my bum; which leads me to the lessons I learned about life with God...
Lesson One: It's difficult to learn to snowboard without instruction! We arrived and got our gear but missed the snowboarding lesson time. We didn't want to waste a whole afternoon so we decided just to try it on our own. Hmmm... Thankfully, a nice man saw our inexperience and gave us some basic pointers. Snowboarding is hard. Life is even harder. I can't imagine trying to navigate life without instruction. God knew all this (Jesus said it in John 16:33, "...Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.") He gave us instruction, His Word, and an instructor, His Son and His Holy Spirit, so that we can know how to live this life victoriously (the last part of John 16:33 Jesus reminds us, "But take heart, because I have overcome the world.").
Lesson Two: When you are at the top of the slope, you just have to clip that foot into your board and go down. The first time we went onto the actual slope (yes, it was still a green bunny slope, but I'm a beginner remember), I looked at the incline and wondered what I had gotten myself into. I was doing this for Maddie? Did Jesus say that there is no greater love than to lay down one's life (on a snowboard) for one's friends (or daughter)? I took a breath and started down. What else do you do? I look at some of my Bible heroes like Ruth and Esther. These women found themselves in situations that were less than thrilling (that's an understatement), but they faced them with grace and courage, with trust and obedience to God. The outcome? God used them to greatly impact His Kingdom. We too can find ourselves in places we don't want to be (me at the top of that... umm... bunny slope), but if we can trust God and go through it with Him, He is going to use it to increase our faith and touch lives for His glory. I know that God is going to accomplish His purpose no matter what; I would rather be a part of what He is doing than to miss out on it.
Lesson three: I made it down the first time (it took some courage, but not a lot of grace was involved) and I went back up and did it again and again. Somewhere on the snowboarding journey, God gave me joy. He does that, you know. We act in obedience to Him and He gives us joy in the midst of it. He is so good.
There were more snowboarding lessons God taught me (things about falling and getting back up perhaps?), but I will stick with these three. I don't want to overwhelm myself with too many lessons to be learned. One step at a time...
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