I had a great day skiing at Copper Mountain yesterday and thought I would write a little blog about what I learned from a free ski lesson I got from a guy I met on the hill.
I would classify myself as a great non-mogul skier. I am not afraid to go down anything but it just may take me a little longer than some. I can ski anything very well as long as it doesn’t include trees or those little white devils known as moguls. I was trying to ski a Black Diamond at Copper (actually, I was more “surviving the run” and not really skiing it) when I came up behind a guy and struck up a conversation about how great the day was the condition of the snow. He noticed I was doing my “survival routine” and asked if I wanted any pointers.
Lesson number one learned: I had the option to be prideful and tell him “no, I’ve got this” when I knew in my mind and the obvious show of my lack of mogul skiing, that I needed all the pointers I could get. I said, “definitely” and he proceeded to help me for about four hours teaching me some of the fundamentals about skiing bumps as well as jump turning and skiing in the trees. Pride is THE #1 obstacle to growth in life. When we think we have it all figured out or don’t want to admit to being insufficient in something, no matter what it is, we have just put a limit on our learning and stunted our growth in life.
The second thing I learned from my ski lesson was that I could hear the instructions being told but if I didn’t apply what was being said to my actions it was pretty much useless information. The same is true with a follower of Christ and the Bible. I can read the Bible, see and even believe what it says but if I don’t apply what it is telling me I am never going to get “better” with my walk with God. Always remember that our walk with God is organic and is either growing or dying. That is an important element of life that we sometimes forget and really is the foundation of a mediocre walk with God. The third thing I learned was that the more comfortable I got with how I was skiing the more adventurous I was willing to be. The same is true with knowing and following Christ. I have heard people say that they think a life following Christ sounds like a bunch of boring rules. Skiing a groomed run and skiing moguls have some “rules” you need to follow but once you learn them the sky is the limit! When I read in the Bible about what the boundaries are for my life and live by those rules set out for me, my relationship with Jesus takes on a whole new level and I can enjoy listening to God and doing what he says. I feel even after a one day lesson that I want to go back up to the hill to practice what I learned so I can get even better and enjoy myself even more on the hill and skiing even more terrain. A life with Christ can be the same thing. A hunger to know God even more so I can go out in the “terrain” of the world and “tear it up” for Christ!
I know my meeting Howard was not a coincidence and I have a new ski buddy and a foundation to hopefully lead him to Christ someday which is super cool and as an added bonus, I feel more confident than ever about my skiing ability and can enjoy my days off when I hit the slopes which is a great feeling as well!
Holy Crap 