Biffin’ It On a Rip Stick

Last week I gained some inspiration from my 10-year-old son.  In our garage we have a skateboard like device called a rip stick.  They are harder to ride than a skateboard because there is only one wheel on the back and one on the front.  I put a picture below so you can see what it looks like.

Last week he decided it was time for him to learn how to ride it.  After about 10 minutes of trying, he came in and had many new bumps and bruises to show us!  He had a big scrape on his elbow where he had fallen down, he had a bruise on his hip where he had lost his balance and fallen another time, and had a scrape on his knee from a different fall.  I told him he needed to give up before he ended up killing himself!  He told me he was not going to give up until he learned how to ride it…no matter how many times he fell down!

As I thought about it, I saw a great metaphor for life contained in this experience.  How many times do we have something new we want to learn in life so we set out to get it.  As we begin to learn, we fall and get our own bumps, bruises, and scrapes.  Do we give up?  Or do we keep at it until we get what we set out to gain?

I am happy to report that he has stuck with it and can now ride the rip stick without falling off!  In fact, as I am typing this post, he just told me he is going outside to ride it for a little bit.  He now has another skill to use to his advantage!

Is there something new you are trying to learn that you are having a hard time with and want to give up?  What can you do to “get up” again and stick with it until you are successful?  Don’t allow the bumps and bruises life gives you keep you from learning the new skills that will help you get what you want out of life.

The Truck I Do Not Drive

I have always wanted to drive a new 4 door pickup truck.  I don’t necessarily have many reasons to need one, but I have wanted one for many years.

My wife and I got married young (compared to most people) and began to have kids within the first year.  We were blessed with a set of beautiful boy/girl twins on our first try!  I was going to college full-time and working full-time while my wife was working full-time taking care of our two precious babies!  My bottom of the ladder, corporate job paid me $10/hour…when we got raised to $12/hour a year later we thought we were big time…we then made almost $25K/year! 🙂

Needless to say, we could not afford a truck back then, so we drove our paid for car and liked it.  Three years later we were blessed with a singleton the year I graduated from college.  I had nearly doubled my income so we were now able to keep our heads above water, but still we could not see the sense in buying a new truck.  Four years later we were again blessed with a set of boy/girl twins!

Years have passed and we have two paid for cars that run and are perfect for our needs.  Why am I writing about cars and trucks?  As we drive around with the kids, I like to point out the type of truck I want someday.  They often ask me why I don’t just go buy one, since they think we can afford it now.  I tell them they are the truck I do not drive.  I would rather have them than a truck that will rust away with time.  They are more important than any earthly possession I could acquire.  My faith teaches me the family I have can be together for eternity and I firmly believe that.  At this time in life I choose to spend the money I have been blessed with to provide for the needs the family has.  I am putting them first….and I am happy to do it.

I have the best kids in the whole world.  They are all special to me in their own ways.  I appreciate the goodness that is in each of them.  I appreciate the trust God has put in me to be their father here on earth.  I appreciate the responsibility I have to teach them and raise them as He would want.  Kids, I love you more than any worldly possession I could ever buy.  You mean the world to me.  Someday we will “drag main” in my new truck…but until then, you are the truck I do not drive…and that brings me more joy than I could ever express!

As I prepared this post I was reminded of a saying by Anne Campbell:

“You are the trip I did not take, you are the pearls I could not buy,
you are my blue Italian lake, you are my piece of foreign sky.

You are my Honolulu moon, you are the book I did not write,
you are my heart’s unuttered tune, you are a candle in my night.

You are the flower beneath the snow, in my dark sky a bit of blue,
answering disappointment’s blow with “I am happy! I have you!”