By T.I.
This summer, our family started going out riding on bikes together. Our daughters, including my youngest who is only two years old, enjoy riding very much.
One thing that I learned from riding bicycles together is that we need to keep moving forward to our destination despite any circumstances or challenges. When we were biking, we encountered uphills, downhills, and various roads that offered us special lessons we could apply to our daily life. Especially when going uphill, we needed to keep the momentum and keep pushing our feet on the pedal until we got to the top, using both our inner and physical strength.
In the beginning, my eldest daughter got off her bike frequently to push her bike forward, especially when we were going uphill. At the time, I thought that it was ok as long as she got to the destination that we agreed upon. I thought that she did enough since she made it without any complaints. Perhaps, she just needed to strengthen her physical ability over time and eventually she will be able to bike uphill. But I was surprised.
The next day, my husband decided to show her how to go uphill without getting off the bike by moving side to side. He also showed her how to change gears on the bike, and how to slowly pedal uphill and ride while standing. The goal was to keep going until the top without giving up no matter how tired she was. She had very little experience riding a bike on the street and I thought it would be a real challenge for her. Yet, my daughter kept putting into practice what her dad had taught her and to my surprise, she overcame her next uphill all by herself!
Through this experience, my husband trained me and my daughter to find various solutions to challenges and overcome them in any situation. This has become an important life lesson for our family. I reflected that it’s the same when it comes to living a life of faith and attending God: we need to continuously improve our character by learning from the experiences of both the ups and downs.