Last week my dad and I took a father – son ski trip with a few other father – son combos. On the last day, after returning our equipment we happened to walk by a flock of ski schoolers. They were earnestly listening to their instructors and putting into practice the tips as they “wedged” their way down the bunny slope.
As we made our way past them, my dad, in his typical mentor-style fashion dropped some knowledge. He said, “You know what, those ski schoolers are a great example of the kind of abundant life God wants for us.” Perplexed, but not surprised I keep walking waiting for the full illustration to be unveiled. As prophesied in my head he quickly continued. “You see there are three ways to learn how to ski….
- You can take a lesson and have a good time
- You can try to teach yourself and have a horrible time
- You can take multiple lessons, learn from others and have a great time, every time
….he continued.
God desires the best for us and that’s why he not only teaches us through lessons, the scriptures and history, but he also brings key people into our lives at the right time to communicate truths, to instill hope and to spur us on to greater things.”
As with most of my dad’s lessons, that day he was right on. God does desire abundant, FULL lives for all of us. The pathway to that life is certainly not through ourselves or just through a one-time lesson. Rather a consistent, purposefully process of pruning and coaching.
There are several valuable lessons we can learn from the children. One is to get out there and try. Each child was attempting to develop a skill set they previously did not possess. Also we need to pick ourselves up when we fall down. Falling and failing are inevitable but we don’t have to stay down. But nothing replaces the lessons learned from a gifted mentor.
As the saying goes, some of life’s greatest lessons are learned from children.
So who are you learning from today? Are you meeting regularly with a gifted mentor? If not, you could be missing out on some valuable life lessons.
Hope is Alive!
Read more about the power of mentoring in my book Hope is Alive, you can pick it up here.