Ice Skating

Oh, the joys of babysitting! I have been blessed this summer with being able to spend time with two of the most adorable girls I could ever imagine. Katie, who is eleven, likes to make up metaphors to go with random things (this is probably why we get along so well). So today, as we were debating whether we wanted to make our ramen noodles by microwave or stovetop, this is what she threw at me:

"It's kind of like ice skating. You can use the tight skates that are really easy to skate in but hurt your feet, or you can use the softer skates that are hard to skate in but feel REALLY good on your feet."

Wow....thanks God.

Ice skating....living out our faith....close enough, right? I mean, think about it. There are two choices of ice skates, and there are really two choices for how we live our lives: We can choose to follow the ways of the world, or we can choose to follow the ways of our faith and the wonderful plan God has in store for us.

Following the ways of the world is very easy....and very tempting. There are a million different objects and a million different ideas pulling us in a million different directions. This world trains us to think only of ourselves and no one else. We are continually bombarded with advertisements and peer encouragement to make us happy, to make us feel good about ourselves, and to satisfy us. It is easy to fall into the habits of immodesty, lies, and seemingly immortality that the world offers. The ways of the world seem like a tight fit and are much easier to skate through this life in. But they HURT. Maybe not immediately-but they leave terrible scars....loneliness, desperation, longing for joy, longing for peace, longing for hope. The ways of this world are easy to skate in, but leave our souls longing for more.

To step out and follow the plan that's been created for us is SCARY. I will be the first one to admit that. The idea of putting on the more difficult ice skates scares the living heck out of me-and I know for a fact I'm not the only one. God's plan for us involves much worldly suffering, and a few faceplants in the ice rink. It's not easy to say no to what others are doing, to keep up a holy lifestyle when surrounded with nonbelievers, or sometimes, even to keep up hope. Following our faith will result in getting made fun of, put down, being fearful, and sometimes feeling alone in this world. But you know what? At the end of this life, the skate of faith feels REALLY good on our souls. If we stick with it through the worldly blisters and pain, we will discover things we could only find on these skates.......peace, joy, humility, love, and so many more.

My friends, we have a choice. Not once, but daily. Each morning when you get up, think about one thing for me:

"What skates will you wear today?"