Dancing on Thin Ice

Winter is coming to Iowa soon. I feel it with the first fallings of snowflakes as they dance and glide past my windshield preparing my mind for the next phase of the changing seasons. The bundling up of the kiddos, hats, mittens, scarves, boots, and the all-inventive snow pants. Finding ways to keep sane while wavering the blizzards outside. And on those all inclusive days, the outdoor activities commence as the sleds fly down the hill, snowballs are rocketed through the air, and a man made of snow emerges in my backyard.

Although my mind, and a lot of times my body do not care much for winter (I hate being cold), there are multiple recreational ways to entertain the season away including downhill skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and ice skating.

Now that’s an activity that brings back memories ice-skating. Trying to maintain equilibrium on a narrow strip of metal attached to the undersides of your shoe balancing on the surface of frozen water. Wow! Talk about volunteering to have an accident. Yet, the amazing and most wonderful part is once you gain your ground, the ability to glide across the ice is beautiful almost flawless unless you are inexperienced in using the toe pick. Then, the dance becomes ugly.

The frozen water dance reminds me of my dancing partner, God. Trying to navigate the ice on my own leaves unmistakable results; failures, poor word choices, angered reactions, guilty mistakes, you get the picture. When I allow God to lead the way, and I follow him along the icy trail, our life dance turns from a stumbling mess into a beautiful routine. He leads. I follow.

Until I put down my toe pick. The times when I’ve told God “no I don’t think that’s the way we are suppose to go.” Those are the times I fall flat on my face knowing I had made the wrong move. Most amazingly when I have hit the brakes, my partner has stayed beside me all the way taking hold of my hand, picking me back up, and leading me once more. For I know that he knows me better than I know myself. When I try to go forward on my own, or whether I turn to the right or to the left, my ears will hear a voice behind me, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21). Life will always become unbalanced without God at our side. Having him as our dancing partner is assurance he will get us through the routine.