Learning to Run

Several years ago I was skiing with my children on a local hill.  The day was fine, the weather was nice enough, and the hill was easy to navigate.  By “easy” I mean laughably so for someone like myself who has enjoyed alpine skiing in the past.  As the day wore on my patience with shepherding small children waned and I began to crave a bit more excitement than the slow meandering we were safely occupied with.  So I found a bit of excitement with a section of quarter pipe, the kind that snowboards use to go up, turn around, and come down.  Now I had no intention of trying the full ramp, just a little testing of the thing with my skis.

It didn’t turn out so well.  A tiny nub of ice that was invisible to my eyes caught the edge of my ski, and horrible sounds happened inside my head as the tendons of my knee gave way.  Horrible sounds happened outside too I suppose, for I awoke with a concerned little girl over me asking if I was ok.  I lied – and said I was.  But I wasn’t, as anyone could tell.  My equipment was spread over the hill, in what some skiers call the “garage sale.”  I couldn’t walk, and ski patrol had to take me off the hill.

My life has just experienced a “garage sale” moment that makes that one look like a holiday.  My exploration of sin has taken its toll, and the pain for me and my family is intense.  Horrible sounds have been happening for years – only this time the Holy Spirit encouraged me to admit my need of help.  No more lies – I needed help in the worst way.

God gave me help in the form of friends, and a wise counselor from Precious Stones Ministries.  I’ll write more about them later.

This journal is a record of my spiritual garage sale, and the active grace of Almighty God in the lives of my family.  I don’t have any secrets left, so expect raw honesty and real stories.

Maybe my story can help you.  Maybe it won’t.

But I wish someone had found the courage to be real for me a long time ago.

 Deuteronomy 4:9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;