How to Put the

Lean in Learn

"YARD SALE!" I do not speak of rifling through and paying for your neighbour's stuff down the street, I speak of something very, very cold. If your eyes are wandering to the photo above, you're on the right track!

What is a yard sale then, you ask? If you are not a skier, this is a common term amoung the snow-savvy (which you may very well be). But, instead of explaining it, let me just paint a pretty picture ... I say 'pretty' with much sarcasm.

David and I love going to Angelfire, New Mexico and spending a few days in an uncle's cabin after skiing the powder all day each day. David skis the black slopes (the hard ones!), of course; he's a hoss that way. I, I humbly admit, am a world class recipient of the Yard Sale Award. I know; you're jealous. Well, probably not not when I tell you that this particular award requires both of my skis, both poles, my goggles, my scarf, and both gloves to be lost and scattered along the length of the slope this particular skier fell and slid down. Score! Oh, I nailed that award. Nailed. It.

A "Yard Sale" is a wipeout of massive proportions, usually executed by a novice skier such as myself attempting a ski run that is well out of their ability. Whether by accident or by arrogance I tried a much more difficult route and I lost my balance, rapidly toppling down the inclined slope. The force of the impact with the well-groomed snow caused all of my stuff and various items of clothing to fly off completely. The effect of the fall was not capable of producing severe injuries, nor was it able to stop the momentum of my plummet! This hapless skier proceeded to slide down the hill, continued to lose items of clothing, skis and poles as I skidded to an eventual full stop. It was awful. Hell had frozen over and installed a Slip-n-Slide.

Sometimes life is a yard sale, is it not? You're just plodding along, skirting the trees and impressing others with your brilliance when BLAM! you lose your balance or try something you think you can handle ... and you just can't.

That's called arrogance, sadly, and we all suffer from it from time to time. And not just skiing, but you got that already. :0)

Solomon posed that Lady Wisdom lives next to Sanity. That is so true. And Knowledge and Discretion may live down the street, but it doesn't do much good if you don't visit from time to time or occasionally bring them a humble pie!

Sometimes someone needs to make that humble pie for ME. I very clearly referenced that I’m not ski-savvy. Yeah, I’ve spent a cumulative three weeks on the slopes spread out over the last forty-something years. Though I know he would have rather been with my cousin on the blacks, my husband stayed with me every minute on the greens, watching me go down first . . . slowly . . . crisscrossing the slopes . . . working my body harder than I needed to . . . building up my confidence . . . making me feel like I was brilliant after every stop. By around lunch, I was in need of a drink and a sandwich, so I sat and texted about five friends (who were probably trying to enjoy their holiday) while he took another run by himself. Then he came back to the ski snail that is Anne-Geri’ and stayed with me until it started to get dark.

My cousins bought me a hilarious t-shirt the first time I skied in Angelfire which depicted said yard sale. Yeah; I’m not amoung the snow-savvy. Thank heaven since then my dear husband has taught me how to ski. However, it’s been a while, and now I’m fatter than my ski suit and who knows if my skis will hold me up! Oh well. If I ever make it out there again, I may just snowshoe with my uncle. I will still probably eat the snow spraying into my mouth, and he plunges on ahead of me, doubtless my thighs and calves burning with every step.

Everyone needs a patient person like Dave in their life, but hey, we HAVE a God like that, don't we?! Don't you? I know you can probably think of a time you ate humble pie and while you munched away, our Someone was possibly laughing and still loving you to pieces. You know I’m not talking about skiing, but He taught you to ‘ski’ through some pretty hard times and lean on Him instead of your own devices, didn’t He?

He truly is the one who put the LEAN in LEARN and He is also the one who lives where Righteous Road and Justice Avenue intersect.

Got a humble pie story too? Where you had to learn to lean on Him the hard way? Please share!