"Where Is Your Center of Gravity?"

We went ice skating on Wednesday with some very dear friends. Well, the "we" may be stretching it a little bit. The boys and Matt ice skated with our friends and I cheered them on. The boys wanted to know why I didn't ice skate. There were many reasons. The one I liked the best was the make-believe reason, "That I use to be an olympic figure skater and I did not want anyone else to feel bad." The real reason was that I have 4 children and to take care of and I cannot afford to break anything, I tried years ago and wasn't that good and that was 80 pounds, 4 c-sections and 2 cancer surgeries ago. Not to mention that nobody wants to see this body hit the ice. I mean really! Matt skated close to the wall, never actually touching the wall, but close enough so that he never gave the appearance of falling. Matthew was the picture of diligence. He tried, he fell, he got up and tried again. He never complained and he never gave up and he came home with lots of bruises thanks to the encounters his knees had with the hard ice. Caleb's goal was to see how fast he could skate without falling. He could be a speed skater. And then there was Joshua. He is 5 years old and has never been ice skating before. I think he has only roller skated maybe once or twice. I watched him closely as he nervously put on his skates and cautiously approached the ice. He stayed close to the wall his first 3 times around and then he started skating. I mean really skating. He was skating in circles. He was skating backwards and was doing tricks. I was amazed. Thirty minutes on the ice and he was awesome. As Matt and I sat watching in awe we wondered why it came so much easier to Joshua than it did to the other 10 beginner skaters that were there. Matt noticed that his center of gravity was closer to the ice than anyone else's. He would occasionally fall, but he was so close to the source that it did not hurt as much to fall. His center of gravity was so close to the source that it was easy to accomplish the goal set before him. He was also watching other skaters who were taking lessons from coaches and who had been skating longer than he had and he was learning from watching them as they followed their coach. The more I thought about how well he did skating, how easy he made it look and how the longer he remained on the ice the more he could do and the better he got, I began to ask myself..."where is your center of gravity?" "Is it close to the source?" Joshua has begged each day to return to the ice. He longs to get those skates back on and see what else he can learn and do. I want my center of gravity to be so close to the source (Jesus) that when I fall, I don't fall far and that it doesn't hurt quite so much. I want to stay so close to the source that I can become one with my Jesus, my savior just as Joshua was becoming one with that ice. I want to learn new things and I want to walk so close to my Jesus that it looks easy and it is easy because I know Him so well. I want to be so close to Jesus my source that the goals and tasks He sets before me are easy because He is my center of gravity. I want to glide in His presence. I want to pirouette before my King. I want to twirl and spin and jump in the air for Him. I want my center of gravity so in line with my source that my entire life revolves around the source. Jesus Christ! I want others who haven't been skating with the Savior as long as I have to be able to look at me and learn more about Him. As I follow my coach and stay close to the source I want to help others do the same. Where is your center of gravity?