Lean On Me

Photo Credit:  click from morgueFile.com

I hope you all enjoyed your Spring Break week making some great memories sprinkled in amongst the sprinkles of rain.  I’ve seen many awesome facebook pictures of family road trips, camping, Disney World, time in the snow, as well as a few who took to the beach…rain or shine.  We hung out closer to home with cousins and friends and did some bowling, fishing, trampoline jumping, laser tagging, and…roller skating.

Let’s talk about that last one a bit more.  How long has it been since you laced up a vintage tan pair of roller skates with orange wheels?  Last week?  Last month?  Last year?  Or…like me, maybe 25 years ago?

My hubby and I took our kiddos roller skating this past Sunday.  We bought the kids their $8 wrist bands for unlimited skating.  Ten minutes later we were back at the cash register renting two “skate assisters” for the girls.  If you haven’t seen them before, these assisters are basically PVC pipe walkers with wheels used to keep skaters steady until they learn to balance and gain the confidence needed to skate on their own.

After watching the kiddos skate around the rink for fifteen minutes, an incredible urge to skate overcame my sensible senses.  Maybe it was a certain nostalgic song?  Maybe it was to show my kids that momma isn’t that old?  I don’t know, but I absolutely loved to skate as a child and watching them whirl around the rink brought back wonderful memories. 

I.  Must.  Skate.  As a kid, I had a little jam box ready with a stack of my favorite cassette tapes and I would blare my music on the front porch as I skated for hours and hours on our horseshoe-shaped driveway.   I recall that I could turn on a dime and I could even skate backwards.  Very cool.

Could skating possibly be like riding a bike, I wondered?  Could it be that once you learn to skate, you never forget?  I didn’t ponder on it too long as I bravely sashayed up to the cash register with my eight bucks.

If you are still wondering if skating is like riding a bike…it’s really not.  Hey…let’s put wheels on the bottom of shoes and see how it goes.  I clumsily made my way around the rink, while grabbing on to anyone and anything that I could get my hands on.  Then, as I ever so gingerly made the last turn, I pointed my skates in the direction of my daughter’s skate assister.  Neither of the girls were using them anymore.  Heck…it had been a whole 30 minutes; those girls were pros.

Don’t judge, but I grabbed one of those wheelie walkers and confidently made my way around the rink.  “Now, THIS I can do!” I thought to myself with a sly grin.  The only people with skate assisters were the pre-schoolers, myself, and another random dad trying to impress his offspring.

Let me tell you what…skating with my “walker” was an experience!  I was cruisin’…sailin’ past those young whippersnappers!  Hee hee!  Honestly, I was having a blast.  I’m quite certain that everyone was looking at me, but with my hair flyin’ and my lips singin’, I didn’t seem to notice, I guess.  The good folks at the skating rink were either laughing or smiling.  I guess I brought some happy into their day?  My kids thought it was hilarious and I think my husband was proud of me for finding my inner “Rink Rat” on the skate floor that day.

There was only one accident to report and it wasn’t even my fault.  My husband and I were taking a rest with the kiddos on the edge of the skating rink when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a 6-foot-3-inch monster of a man with flailing arms clumsily plowed right into us going 200 mph.  His size 15 skate found my shin bone.  I saw stars.  He apologized, scooped his pride up off the floor, and skated off.  I, on the other hand, was left with a throbbing nest of goose eggs on my tibia.  Ouch!  As much pain as I was in, I am so thankful that it was my leg and not one of my children’s!  Thank you, sweet Jesus.

Since I was immediately afraid of getting a mess of blood clots out of the incident (I overreact sometimes…what can I say?), I decided to keep moving.  Maybe that would help?  Just.  Keep.  Moving.  So, I carefully got up, praying that my lower leg wouldn’t buckle underneath me.  Nope.  Not broken.  I’m good.  SKATE ON!  As, Pat Benatar belted out that Sunday afternoon over the speakers, “Hit me with your best shot!”

All afternoon, I relied heavily on my skate assister.  I also found a new appreciation for the term, “Lean on me.”  I leaned.  A lot.  And, I have to admit that I really didn’t mind who saw me lean.  My leaning was so obvious and I was okay with it.

Bill Withers released a song in the 1970’s called, “Lean on Me” that I’ve always enjoyed listening to.  It’s a comforting song.  There’s just a special feeling that goes along with knowing that you can lean on someone.

A few of the lyrics that I like are: 

“Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain, we all have sorrow.  But if we are wise, we know that there's always tomorrow.  Lean on me when you're not strong and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on.  For it won't be long ‘til I'm gonna need somebody to lean on.  You just call on me, brother, when you need a hand.  We all need somebody to lean on.  I just might have a problem that you'll understand.  We all need somebody to lean on.  If there is a load, you have to bear that you can't carry, I'm right up the road; I'll share your load, if you just call me.”

The song ends with Mr. Withers singing “call me” numerous times…louder and then softer…call me…call me…call me.

As I reflect on the friendship that I formed with my skate assister over the weekend; it serves as a reminder that it’s okay for us to lean.  It’s also okay for others to see us lean.  And, who should we lean on?  The Lord.

In Proverbs 3:5-6, it says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

Go ahead and lean.  As the song says, “We all need somebody to lean on.”  God eagerly awaits and beckons us with an ever-so-gentle, “Call me, call me, call me.”

Have a wonderful week, Sunshines!