It’s ‘Yellow Ball Monday’ and Miriam Walsh has the ball:

It was a ski-lover’s dream. Snow laden hill. Tiny puffs of snow falling from a January sky. Athletes gliding down the hill. Hot cocoa sippers watching from the nearby lodge.

Enter the Walsh family. Freshly relocated to West Michigan from the sandy beaches of California, we were striving (which really means my husband was determined for us) to become a skiing family. How hard could it be?

The boys were ages four and eleven then. Clad in their helmets, goggles, and skiis, they took to the snow like butter to popcorn. Their instructor nodded his approval in our direction.

My husband left to go figure it out for himself.

My turn. I nervously awaited my instructor. He slid over to me and flashed a smile. Did his tooth just sparkle?

“You athletic?”

“Well, I guess.” Feeling spineless.

“What?”

“Yes. Yes, I am athletic.” Searching for confidence.

“Good. Let’s go.”

After forty-five minutes of many spills without any thrills, I was ready to be finished. Forever. The last time I fell, I just laid there like a snowball looking up at the powder blue sky. Small faces encroached my line of vision.

“What are you spending so much time down there for, Mom?” my older son asked. My younger son echoed the question with inquiring blink of his lids.

It was a great question. My session over, my instructor helped me up and said, “I thought you said you were athletic!” Until that moment I thought I was.

Words escaped me but thoughts did not. There would not be a next time. But that’s not the example I wanted to set for my kids. I did eventually learn to ski proficiently. In this Christian journey I fall down sometimes. Okay, a lot.

Staying down or giving up is not an option. I persevere because that’s what authentic followers of Jesus Christ do. When we fall short, we try again, no matter what.

And that attitude is going to come in handy when I try to make my husband’s latest dream for our family come true—snorkeling.

Miriam Walsh is a writer, speaker and a woman who lives her deep convictions. You can read more at her blog, Holy Wonder. I tell people that Miriam and I are ‘twins in Christ’–both because we share a birthday and because we have deep camaraderie in the Lord. Miriam lives with her husband, Tom, and two sons in East Grand Rapids, MI.

If you’re interested in having the yellow ball tossed your way, check out more information here.