“Bend your knees. That’s ok. Up ya go … Oops, let’s get ya back up.”
“Lean forward, lean forward, bend your knees! Oops. Get back up.”
“Use your stops, bend your knees, lean for…. Remember how to use….up ya go.”
“Hang onto the wall! Not Nana’s pants! Yea, there ya go! Bend your knees, lean forward…”
And so the monologue went as my 5 year old grand daughter and I made our way slowly around the skate rink.
I can count in decades how long it’s been since I skated. My family and I were enjoying a family skate night hosted by my church, at the local roller rink. Otherwise I would not have thought of taking the girls to skate. It was so much fun. I heard myself telling my son we should do this more.
I was able to do one victory lap on my own, stuttering with each leg stroke, on the heavier-than-I-remember skates. It felt like a victory lap to me anyway. I know three months ago I would not have been able to have the energy, much less the strength, to come to an event like this. So the one lap I was able to go around the rink without a grand daughter in tow was exhilarating!
The real secret to skating is to relax and trust – even when our brain screams the opposite. Just like our faith walk, we must go on slippery surfaces and relax and trust God.
