Smooth Sailing (from the Archives, Oct. 2006)

Our local rollerskating rink has a Christian Music night every Tuesday night. We took our kids there this past Tuesday to have some fun family time together. Our schedule gets insanely busy during this time of year, so we covet those evenings when we can spend time together as a family and have fun!

This was Noelle's first experience on skates. She is a fiercely independent three year old, and after several laps in the practice area, she wanted to come out on the main floor with Papa and Mama. Thus began a long evening for David and me, as we went through the process of teaching her how to skate. As we repeatedly picked her up, encouraged her to stand on her skates (rather than hang from our arms), and coached her to keep her feet together, I began to get a picture in my head of my walk with the Lord. Sometimes my walk looks like my little three year old girl's attempts to skate. Every now and then I trip, or my feet may flail wildly about (metaphorically speaking) as I try and figure out how to get through certain circumstances. I quickly learn, as my daughter did that night, that if I simply stand strong and hold my Father's hand tight, He will guide me through! It was so much easier when she would just stand on her skates between us and let us do all the work!

God wants to work through us! He doesn't just drop us into a new situation and say, "Good luck, I'll be back in a couple of hours." We need to remember to hold His hand in everything and let Him guide us. All He requires of us is a willing and obedient heart that listens to, and heeds His commands.