Parable of the Momentum of Faith

   Having faith is like riding a bike on a hilly trail.
   Nobody understands this better than 6-year-old Judi. Every day she rides her bike to and from school on a rather hilly bike trail. She knows that in order to propel her pink Road Princess forward, she must pedal a certain direction. She also knows that pedaling backwards will put the breaks on her wheels.
   Usually Judi pedals with confidence, finding the strength to climb uphill, with the aid of her momentum built up on the downhill parts. The minute Judi begins to doubt herself, though, and pedal backwards, the hills suddenly overwhelm her, and Judi struggles to continue.
   One day, Judi's older brother, Tom, who liked to run alongside the bike, looked back and saw their mom about 20 feet in their wake. Worried that they were getting too far ahead, Tom reached out and stopped Judi's bike. What the young boy could not have understood was that they were standing in the middle of an uphill climb.
   Once their mom caught up, and the two children started again toward the school. Judi, however, found it extremely difficult to pedal the rest of the way up the hill. Without her mom lending an occasional push, Judi might have failed completely.
   Faith is like that, you know.
   Each day you and I are on very hilly road through Life. As long as we pedal forward with faith, we build a momentum of strength that eases our challenges during the uphill battles. If we allow doubts or fear to slow, and even stop, our faithful trek, the task of moving forward again can be overwhelming. In fact, we may need an extra push - or three - to get us to a position where we can continue ourselves.