FocusOnTheFamily

Dust yourself off and try, try again

Written by Brian Siewert

My daughter, Jayme, came crying to me before the race had even started. She had that look on her face that we had leaned to distinguish from all others. It said, “I’m hurt.”

BMX racing starts with riders on a ramp on their bikes, pressed up against a hydraulically operated steel gate. When the gate drops, the race begins.  That day, as Jayme warmed up with the other riders, some “dummy” (my assessment) decided to raise the gate as she rode over it, launching her back tire over her head. In racing terms, she did an “endo” on the concrete ramp.

Her bruises and scrapes healed within a week or two, but her fear of the starting gate lasted much longer.

Life will hand us many scrapes and bruises, even some serious injuries. These mishaps can occur because of our own carelessness as we compete in the marketplaces of life. Sometimes, our pain will be the result of people, like the guy who flipped the ramp on Jayme that day, who too often control the track. How we respond as parents can deeply affect how our children embrace “adventure.”

Our first response should be compassion. I scooped my injured daughter into my arms. I could see that it was just bruises, but my wife kept the level head of compassion and said, “Honey, you’re hurt. Come here and sit with me. No racing tonight.”

The challenge came when the pain was gone and the bruises healed. Fear set in: Jayme was terrified of the starting gate. At first, we bypassed it altogether, coaxing her over the closed gate when we assured her that the “dummy” was nowhere in sight. Eventually, Jayme lined her bike up in the gate, prayed for strength, and faced her fears.

I was so proud.

God parents us through life’s adventures knowing how breakable and frail we are. Psalm 103 says, “He remembers that we are dust.” God doesn’t remove the danger or keep us from experiencing the wounds of adventure, but He helps us to face our fears and start again. We need to do the same with our kids.

We’re now working on another life lesson: forgiving the “dummy.”

Brian Siewert is the regional director for Focus on the Family Canada in the Prairies. He is married to Celia and they have four adventuresome kids.

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