Taxi service, the flyer _______. I breathed a sigh of relief. After several months living without a car in this little town in central Vermont, I had some _______of independence.

“I’ve got a piece of paper to write down the number, ” my daughter said,_______in her purse. “They could take you to_______.”

I dialed the number. A nice lady called Ginet_______ it. “I’m afraid you have the wrong number. I’m not a taxi.” “I’m sorry to have bothered you,” I said, trying to keep the _______out of my voice. “I was just trying to find a ride to church.”

The line was quiet. I was about to_______ again for troubling her. “I can do that.” “You? _______ ?” “My grandmother_______recently,” Ginet said. “I used to give her rides a lot. Since she died I’ve been looking for some other way to be__________”

I__________. I’d never missed a Sunday there and volunteered whatever I could. It was ________enough relying on my children. Did I want to take ________from strangers as well?

The next day, Ginet __________at my home. “Pleased to meet you,” she said. We got chatting.

Outside the church she did some________and explained my situation to some of the members. In minutes I________several offers for a ride home. Clearly I wasn’t the only one who liked to________.Why couldn’t I accept the blessing of________others that opportunity?

That was the start of a whole________attitude for me. I guess I’d dialed just the right number ________

For my 8^th birthday my ________ was a shiny blue bike. My older sisters decided to teach me to ride. We lived on Edgewood Avenue at the top of a steep hill. My ________, Agnes and Christina, put me on my bike and ________ me hard, yelling instructions, “Peddle! Steer! Use the brakes!” Needless to say, I was rushing down the street ________ trying to hold on.

I bumped into the curb (路缘), ________ over the handlebars onto the sidewalk, skinning my knees, hurting my hands and crying loudly. Instead of offering ________, my sisters yelled at me ________ I hadn’t listened to their instructions. Weeks ________ before I tried again. This time I walked my bike to the ________ parking lot behind the schoolyard. I kept repeating the instructions to myself and after a few awkward ________ and even more painful spills I learned to ride a bike.

Learning life lesson is ________ like learning to ride a bike. Some life lessons are ________ to learn. We don’t always get to choose where we learn them; we don’t always have good teachers and we are not always ________. Sometimes we find ourselves madly trying to hold on.

But things are different now.

My husband, Rich, ________ my sons to ride a bike. First he raised their training wheels a little and they rode around the block getting used to the unstable ________. After he removed the training wheels he would run along the side of the bike holding on to the seat to ________ them. Up and down our street they would go with Rich calling out, “You ________ have it! You’re doing great!” until my son would call out “Let go”. Rich would let go but still run along, just ________. It was a happy day in the neighborhood.

When the life lessons come along in this New Year you may ________ them from a patient and kind teacher; you may have them surrounded by ________ and encouragement. And you may have someone stay by your side until you have found victory.