Is your trust rusty??

Spring should be here by now.

At least that's my opinion. I went out to the garage the other day and saw my bike. I'm looking forward to getting on it as soon as the weather's better.

There was a time in my life that I didn't care if I ever saw a bike again!

I was five years old. I had this cute red two-wheeler with training wheels. We lived out on the farm and I would ride the bike up and down the sidewalk a lot...as well as occasionally in the driveway. It was a gravel driveway, though...and hard to ride on. Well, for someone without much bike experience.

I don't remember the exact day...but I do remember my Dad saying something about it being time for them to come off...and my bike got a wheel job. The training wheels were taken off.

"Time to learn to ride the bike without them," he said. I followed him (and my bike) to the driveway.

"Without training wheels, you need to learn to balance yourself on the bike," he said. "You can do this. I'll help you."

I got on the bike. No big deal. I'd done it a thousand times before.

It felt funny, though....the bike seemed to want to lean to one side or the other...Dad was holding onto the back of my seat, though...so I was okay.

I began pedaling.

"Go faster!" Dad said. I did.

He let go. I went about three feet and landed. There in the gravel. On my side. Ow.

"Get back on." He said. "You can do this."

No! I didn't want to do this. "Put the wheels back on!" I cried. "I can't ride my bike like this!"

"You have to learn balance. Get back on and try again."

I looked at him skeptically. I looked at the bike skeptically. I didn't really trust either one.

"Will you hang on this time?" I asked.

"I will." He said.

He lied.

Another three or four feet or so...another attempt at balance that landed me in the rocks.

He had let go of my seat.

I sat there, skinned knees and all...and cried. I had trusted him to hang on!

"Get up!" he said. "You went a lot farther that time! You can do this!"

"I don't want to ride the bike anymore!" I said.

"I promise I'll hang on this time. Just get back on."

My gut told me that he was lying. I mean, c'mon...I was five. I knew how the world worked! Still, he was big. He knew more than me. Right?

I got back on. He let go. I went flying down the driveway...and fell again. He was right. I was going farther each time...but still falling on my side. And still getting hurt. Bike riding was no longer fun for me.

Each time I fell off, he said, "Get back on." I'd balk. I didn't trust him.

"I'll hold on." He'd claim. But he always let go at some point.

It was a hard afternoon. But...by the end of it...I knew how to ride a bike without training wheels. And wow...it was fun! Really fun! The breeze in my hair...ahhh...nothing like it.

When I first thought about this as an entry...this idea of TRUST...I wanted a little more information. So I went to Dictionary.com and...

because I was not quite awake...

I typed in 'RUST' by mistake.



RUST...(in the for what it's worth dept.), is "any growth, habit, influence, or agency tending to injure, deteriorate, or impair the mind, character, abilities, usefulness, etc."



TRUST...(on the other hand), is "reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence. Confidence implies even more sureness; this may be shown as undisturbed calm."



Hm...injury...and undisturbed calm. interesting. You know what?



Sometimes my trust is rusty.



Somehow...through a bad habit...or a bad influence...I'll let something eat through my trust...causing it to be injured...or to deteriorate...thus impairing my abilities and my usefulness...and my character.



Trust does not come easy for me though. Especially when I've been lied to...or disappointed by someone close to me.



Trust is like...like...learning to ride a bike without training wheels.

Eventually, through some pain...and practice...you CAN get to that place where you're riding with undisturbed calm. You're going to fall down, my friends...and you're going to need to get back on. Right away.

It's worth it though. Trust is better than rust.

Spring...get here quickly.