About a month ago my seven year old learned to ride her bike without training wheels. This came with considerable effort, for the last two summers we have tried to teach her, but her fear of falling kept her from trying. She would get on, and before we could even get the wheels to start she would have a meltdown and get off and go inside.
That all changed about a month ago. We were at our local Goodwill and our five year old saw a bike that looked like a motorcycle. She loves everything fast. Cars, trains, boats, doesn’t matter. As long as it moves and it goes fast, my five year old is into it. The challenge with this bike she found, no training wheels.
The bike was inexpensive, but high quality so my wife and I decided to buy it figuring that even if it didn’t get any use this summer, it would next year and we couldn’t pass up the deal. I was thinking in my head about whether or not her training wheels from her first bike were big enough. As it turns out, she didn’t want them. She, at five years old, was insistent that she was going to learn to ride the bike without training wheels.
This caused me to think about when Paul was talking to Timothy about standing up for what he believed in and not letting the religious leaders of the time look down on him for not being an “elder” of the community.
1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV)
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
She didn’t believe her age had anything to do with her ability to ride her bike without training wheels. If the seven year old boy across the street could do it, then so could she.
The amazing part is what happened next. As my five year old was learning to ride her bike, my seven year old “suddenly” wanted to learn. She had no intention of having her little sister learn how to ride without training wheels first! When she struggled, my five year old naturally spurred her on lovingly, reassuring her that she could do it.
Hebrews 10:24 (NIV)
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds
When I asked her why she was sharing her new bike and encouraging her sister on, her response? “Isn’t that what Jesus would do?” Best moment ever!
After about a week of hard work, and some tears, my seven year old learned to ride a bike without training wheels. The best part is that she immediately returned the favor and two weeks later my five year old is also off training wheels. The both did exactly what they should have, they “spur[red] one another on toward love and good deeds.” Hopefully this is the beginning of a lifetime of being there for each other the way God would want them to be.
An Ordinary Methodist 