Climb Every Mountain

Fletcher went to a birthday party on Saturday at one of those indoor rock climbing places. He was a little unsure about the whole deal. The only time he's tried the rock wall (other than the mini ones at the park) was at our church when he was about 4 years old. He only went up a few feet then got scared and came back down.

Now that he was six years old and older and stronger and much braver, we told him he would probably enjoy rock climbing a whole lot more. Some of the kids at the party had done this before and some hadn't.

He did great going up as you can see from the pictures. But the birthday party workers (girls in their late teens/early 20's) are trained to let the kids go up a few feet then the kids have to come back down to show the worker/belayer they can do that part. This keeps a kid from climbing all the way to the top and getting stuck because he/she doesn't know how to get down.


Unfortunately, Fletcher had some trouble with the descent part. The thought of letting go of the sturdy wall and grabbing on to the not-so-sturdy rope and leaning back was a very difficult concept. As much as I wanted Fletcher to figure it out with the help of the worker (and no intervention from mom), I did have to step in and help coach him down since there were lots of other kids in line patiently waiting their turn. The party had a two hour time limit and I knew Fletcher could be stuck on that wall for a really long time.

After a few tears, he came down. He kept trying too, but never went up very far. I think if Kevin had been there (he was home sick), Fletcher might have had a little more confidence.

He wanted me to take a picture of one of his classmates - a little girl - who had absolutely no problems climbing all the way to the top. Fletcher was very impressed with her abilities.

Part of the birthday goodie bag included a free pass to return to the gym at another time for a free session. Fletcher said he wanted to come back with Mom and Dad and try again.

When we got home, he told Kevin that he didn't do very good and that he cried a little bit. It breaks a mom's heart when you know your child wants to be good at something but they just aren't - yet.

It did give us a great opportunity to talk about faith and how it is easier to hold on to what we can see and what feels secure and much harder to let go and let God be in charge when we can't see Him and trust that He will be there for us if we fall. I don't know if his 6 year old brain completely got the spiritual analogy, but it was a very good reminder for mom! We are going through a book with Fletcher (and Luke when he sits still and listens which is pretty much never) during our night time devotions called Child's Book of Character Building. For several days a different character trait is discussed and applied in the Bible, at home, at school, and at play. We happened to be talking about faith, so this little party was a perfect lesson.