The Freedom That Comes With Trusting

This weekend's DaddyDay was a big day for all of us. And it all started with a bike.

Abby's been asking when she could learn to ride her bike without the training wheels. So when we got up Saturday morning with nothing on the docket, we decided the day had come. After DaddyDay cinnamon rolls, we each donned our park gear and headed to Heardmont for the morning. The first order of business was a power-walk around the trails (accompanied by Abigail and her training wheels), but once we had gotten in a little workout, Josh busted out the wrench (or screwdriver...or hammer...or something like that) to remove her balance-helpers.


I'm not sure what she expected it to be like, but I think she was a bit taken aback at how much different it was to ride without something she could see to catch her on either side if she started to fall. Those wheels may have been tiny, but they gave her great assurance.

The first 20 minutes or so was spent with Josh jogging along beside her, holding her steady with every spin of the tires. She kept saying she thought she was going to fall...and he kept reassuring her she wasn't.


"I've got you, baby. I promise I'm not going to let you fall."

But just as she would start to get the hang of it, she would psych herself out, quit pedaling, and then lose her balance. Of course, as he promised, Josh was right there to catch her each and every time.


After a while of this, Josh stopped her, looked her in the eyes, and said, "Abby, I've got you. You have to trust me. I love you so much, and I'm not going to let you fall."

It took some time, but eventually she believed him. And you know what? She was actually able to do what we had gone out there to accomplish!


Later that night, when we settled the little ones down to bed, and it was just Josh and me in the quiet of our living room, Josh shared with me how neat the experience of earlier that day was for him. On one level, he loved being able to spend that time with Abby and help her begin to learn something new--something that was important to her.

But on another level, God taught him something that day that we both needed to know and be reminded of. As you've probably read, we've got a lot going on in our family right now. We're in the middle of completing an international adoption, and Josh has recently applied to go to seminary. Although we're incredibly excited about both of these ventures, we'd be lying if we said we don't feel a little off balance at times.

We've had our spiritual training wheels on for a while now. We've been content to take the kiddie ride and use the things we can see as our assurance. We can see a regular paycheck. We're comforted by a good savings account. And we're quite at ease with a nice life in suburban Birmingham. But God wants more from us. He wants more for us.

We want to follow God's leading, but we're anxious.

We want to bring glory to His name, but we're feeling inadequate.

We want to go wherever He sends us. But at times we're uncertain.

Yet just as Josh said that day to Abby, God is reminding us of this: I've got you. You have to trust me. I love you so much, and I'm not going to let you fall.

And so we can go forth boldly with joy to accomplish the purpose that's been set out for us knowing that Someone with the power to hold us up is right there beside us every step of the way.