Falling Off Bikes

"Smile On" has been more interested in actually pedaling too!

I'm realizing that riding a bike is a lot like learning a new language.  Our daughter, "A Delight," has been more motivated to learn to ride a bike this week, mostly because of friends who are riding bikes here at the study center where we're staying.  She spent a lot of time one day on a bike with training wheels, even though she fell several times while turning.  Later in the day she got up the courage to try a small bike without training wheels, all by herself.  She struggled to get up on it, and eventually asked for help.  Next she tipped back and forth trying to balance while we hovered at the back of her seat.

Then she took a break for a while.

But after a break, then she'd come right back and want to try it again.  That was exciting for me to see as it shows some real adventurousness, and some pick-yourself-up-and-try-it-again-ness.  That's what she'll need to thrive in a new environment with lots new things for kids to learn.

And that's exactly what we'll need to learn a new language.  Willingness to try something totally new and then try again, even when it seems like you'll probably just fall on your face.

So we get on bikes and step out into new languages with prayers for adventurousness, safety, and the ability to get back up again.