Is there something your kids love to do that you absolutely can’t stand? For me, one of those things is ice skating.

My kids love to go ice skating, but I am not good at skating. I don’t like the cold, and I definitely don’t like ice. I don’t even like ice in my drink unless it’s over 100 degrees outside—then I’ll consider it. For me, ice skating is the perfect storm of three things I just cannot stand. But my kids love it, so we do it.

Learning to Hold On

My daughter is really great out there on the ice. She picked it up pretty quickly. Of our family, she’s the most athletic without question. My middle child can hold his own out on the rink.

My youngest is still learning. What he does is use one of those walker things you can take out on the ice. The big thing he loves about it is that when he falls—or feels like he’s going to fall—he has something to hold on to. He knows, I’m going to fall. It’s ice skating, so everybody falls sometimes. And he knows that when it happens, he has something to hold on to.

A Picture of Life and Faith

Life is hard. It’s crowded. Life gets cold sometimes—and I don’t just mean the weather. Stumbles and falls are inevitable, and in those moments, our Heavenly Father is always there to help us back up.

In Psalm 37:24, David writes:
“Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”

Your Stumble Isn’t the End of Your Story

A couple of thoughts on this verse: this was written later in David’s life. He was in the second half of life, and he knew what it meant to stumble. He knew what it meant to live hard for God, and he knew what it meant to fall deep into sin.

Each time, David got back up. It wasn’t just because he was this awesome, exceptional guy—although I think we could agree that he was. It wasn’t because of that. As much as he succeeded hard, he also fell hard. But he was able to get back up each time because the Lord was holding him by the hand.
Sometimes, as adults and as believers, we can frown on the idea that God is holding our hand. That’s what we do with children. I’m not a child. I’m an adult.

But here’s the thing: we all stumble. We all fall. Sometimes, we fall harder than other times. But God is always there, holding our hand—ready, willing, and able to help us back up.

Here’s the big idea that comes out of this passage:

Your stumble isn’t the end of your story.

Your stumble isn’t the end of your story—whether that’s an argument with your spouse, tension at work or with your kids, a habit you’re struggling to let go of, or some sin that makes you say, “I can’t believe I did it again.”

Getting Back Up

Think about one area where you have stumbled recently. It doesn’t have to be big, but maybe it is.

Set aside time to get alone with God and pray: “Lord, You know I’ve stumbled with __. Help me back up today.”

You may have stumbled, but you haven’t been abandoned. God holds you by the hand—and He’s not finished with your story.

He healed the sick.
He preached Good News.
He cast out demons.
He loved the least of these.
He spoke out against evil.
He washed feet.
He died for the very people who killed Him.

Jesus never let what He was entitled to make Him entitled.

He had every right to demand our service but chose to serve us first.

Have you ever felt like you were “doing worship” wrong?

Maybe you were in a church service, a retreat, or even a worship concert where you saw people raising their hands, and they just seemed like they were having such an encounter with God. But you were standing there going, “Hey, it’s all I can do to clap on time.”

Or maybe it was the opposite: you were the one having this encounter, but you looked around and felt like everybody else was just kind of staring at a screen. You wondered, Am I doing something wrong?

Maybe you have even been in a spot where you thought, “I’m here, but I’m too tired or preoccupied to really give myself over to this.”

I think at some point in all of our faith journeys, we have had moments where, for whatever reason, we felt like maybe we were doing worship wrong—or maybe we were not in a place to worship well.

So, when those moments happen, how would Jesus want us to respond?

Worship in Spirit and Truth

In John 4:24, Jesus says, “For God is Spirit, and so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

This comes from John 4, the famous encounter where Jesus is talking to the woman at the well. For a lot of reasons, she was ostracized from both her community and from the Jewish community at large: she was a Samaritan—one of the Jews who had married and had kids with non-Jews—and she had been divorced five times and was currently living with someone who was not her husband.

So the fact that Jesus, a Jewish man, was even talking to her at that time was unheard of—and even scandalous.

At this point, the woman is feeling uncomfortable: Okay, this guy is more than just a guy. They start talking about where people are supposed to worship. Is it on this mountain, or in Jerusalem?

Jesus says, “No, it’s not about that anymore.” God is Spirit, and we worship Him in spirit and in truth.

It’s About a Posture

What Jesus is saying here is that worship is not about a place; it is about a posture. It is not about where you worship, but how you worship.

And when I say how you worship, I do not mean the mechanics of it—whether you are someone who raises their hands, closes their eyes, claps, or any of that. Rather, it is about your heart: what you are bringing to God in that moment of worship.

Worship in Everyday Moments

Maybe you have times of worship in a church service, in your home, during your commute, or even as you go about your day. Worship is not about how well you sing, or even limited to singing at all. It is about praising God for who He is and what He has done. And we are not limited to simply music to do that.

We can worship God while doing the dishes by praising Him silently in our minds—or even out loud—for giving us dishes and the food that was on those dishes.

We can worship as we go about our work here at K-LOVE and Air1, or in our homes and communities: “God, thank You for this job. I’m giving everything I’ve got to this.”

Give What You Have

Maybe you are in a place where you are thinking, “Well, yeah, okay, I can do that, but I really do not have much to give. I’m tired. I’m overwhelmed. I’m preoccupied.”

I think what Jesus would say to that is: Give what you have, and I will meet you there.

Secure people can admit when they’re wrong without unraveling. That humility makes others feel safe. And safe people get trusted.

It’s easy to laugh at others. It takes strength to laugh at yourself.

As parents, we spend a lot of time teaching and preparing our kids for life. And that’s a good thing. But when they’re grown and on their own, they probably won’t remember most of what we said.

They’ll remember when we showed up to their games and recitals. They’ll remember the ice cream runs, coffee dates, and burgers after a tough day. They’ll remember the late nights we spent listening, the times we held them as they cried, and the moments we celebrated their achivements.

They talk about how their parents believed in them, loved them, and were there for them

Your kids won’t remember everything you told them but they’ll always remember how you were present for them.

They may be the very thing God uses to help someone walking through the valley you’ve already traveled.

Be the guide you needed when you were finding your way