Balance

My daughter rode her bike without training wheels for the first time yesterday. She's eight, well beyond the age of first time coasting, but I am proud nonetheless. She was the almost two year old who had not taken any baby steps and walked 20 feet into her Daddy's office at work, her first steps. Her Dad prayed for her before she even got on the bike that it would be a good experience, for protection. She didn't fall once, no tears, no skinned knees, just a big smile. A gift from the best Gift Giver. Maybe I am thrilled because I still don't know how to ride a bike, a task given to my brothers that was never completed, I can't balance. She was still beaming this morning when I greeted her at the breakfast table, dressed and ready to go for the day (a rarity in my house). In so many ways she surpasses me, she forgives deeply, she believes emphatically, she plays wholeheartedly, and she balances. I take hold of the challenge of raising children with both of my hands, but there are pieces of me I don't want them to be or see. The lack of balance and the well calculated expression all too familiar to me. My prayer today is that I would come out of my polarized self, let the everyday moments speak to me, that I would allow the Lord Jesus to help me balance.