New Beginnings

I remember when I learned how to ride my bike. I was excited, and I wanted to ride, but I DID NOT want to fall! I was so afraid of falling that I was always looking for someone’s hand to be on the back of my seat and making sure that they hadn’t let go. Quite naturally, I fell a few times, because there were a few concepts that my fear of falling had caused me to not grasp…like balance, control, and pace.

I mean clearly I didn’t think that I would ever get anywhere with someone holding onto the back of my bike, or that I could expect to always have someone there to hold me up. But that didn’t matter…I WAS AFRAID TO FALL. And so much so, that at times I CHOSE to fall simply because it felt like I was beginning to fall; and of course in my mind if I fell on my own it wouldn’t hurt as much. (Starting to sound familiar? *Wink*) There were even times when I would fall while someone was holding on, which often resulted in them being wounded as well, because I was trying to go too fast. I had not yet determined that in those times when I felt myself falling I should shift my weight to gain my BALANCE. It had also not occurred to me that it wasn’t the person holding onto the bike that controlled whether or not I fell, but in fact it was ME who was in CONTROL because I was holding onto the handle bars. Much to my surprise once I learned how to ride my bike, I also learned that when no one was holding onto the back…my PACE was up to me.

The challenge of a new beginning can be much like the experience of learning to ride a bike…it’s a FAITH WALK and we are all afraid to FAIL. Conquering the fear of failure is perhaps the greatest challenge to overcome. It is the one thing that paralyzes most people from moving forward with anything that they seek to accomplish. The fact of the matter is that failure is inevitable. The few times that we fall while learning to ride our bikes is “in essence” failure, but it’s the determination to learn that gets us back on the seat again.

My journey continues as I pursue new opportunities. It has not been easy and at times I have wanted to just give up. There is so much uncertainty that comes when you decide to get out of the boat of mediocrity and trust God to form the waters of purpose under your feet. Don't think that this is easy just because I don't complain or seem worried...I choose to walk in peace on this journey because I can not afford to let my emotions take over. I have embraced the truth that no matter what happens along this journey, God steadies me with His guiding hand on the back of my seat when I begin to lose balance; He has empowered me with the resources I need to maintain control; and my pace….well, He’s redeeming the time and I’m moving full speed ahead.