Christian Latina Leadership Blog

By Verónica Martínez-Gallegos

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Do you remember the first time you learned how to ride a bicycle? Maybe it was when you were a little girl, when someone—a patient mother, a loving father, an older sister, or an aunt who believed in you—ran behind you shouting, “You can do it, keep pedaling!”

Or maybe you learned as an adult, in a park, with a friend who did not give up on you, or with a partner who held the seat while you hesitated to lift your feet off the ground. I learned with my middle-school friends, and it was a lot of fun!

Sometimes learning to pedal as an adult is even more challenging: by then we already know fear, we already know what it means to fall. And even so, someone stands next to us and tells us it is worth trying.

Learning to ride a bike has never been just about balance, technique, or strength. It is also about accompaniment—and trusting yourself. It is about that magical moment when someone let’s go of the seat because they believe you are ready, even before you believe it yourself, or that moment when you finally dare to try it on your own.

Let’s think about learning to ride a bike as a metaphor for learning leadership skills. Learning something new as adults can feel harder. The falls hurt more. The embarrassment, too. The “what will people think?” becomes louder. But that is when God shows up most. Because learning in adulthood is not only about skill. It is about the formation of the heart. It is a spiritual transformation. It is an encounter with grace during our vulnerability. Every time you dare to learn something new, you are doing something deeply spiritual: you are recognizing that you do not have to know everything and that you do not have to do it alone.

The famous quote attributed to Ratan Tata says: “If you want to walk fast, walk alone; but if you want to walk far, walk together.” That is why companionship on our journey is a gift from God. When God is about to entrust us with a task, God prepares someone to accompany us—so that we do not walk alone, and so that we can go far. That is part of the blessing of being a part of CLLI and walking together: surrounding ourselves with voices, hands, hugs, counsel, and presences that reflect the great love of God.

That person holding your bicycle did not arrive in your life by accident. Nor are the women who accompany you today accidental. They are the women who pray for you, encourage you when your faith wavers, celebrate with you when you move forward, and lift you up when you fall.

The writer and scholar Brené Brown says: “Surrounding yourself with people who want to see you grow is an act of courage and wisdom.” The power of someone believing in you as you learn something new —a new skill, a new leadership role — always feels lighter when someone is cheering you on from the side of the road. At different stages of life, we all need a “hand on the bicycle seat.”

There are moments when God calls us to move toward something new, perhaps a new role, season, ministry, or level of faith. Sometimes that calling feels exactly like getting on a bicycle for the first time: your heart races, your hands get sweaty, and you wonder if you are really ready. But in God’s kingdom, learning is not built on perfection—it is built on trust.

Before you take that first pedal, God is already behind you, holding the seat with a tenderness that surpasses all understanding. You may tremble with fear, but God does not. Many times, we feel like we are pedaling alone, but God whispers: “Do not fear, for I am with you…” — Isaiah 41:10.

In the Bible, we find a beautiful example in Ruth and her learning process. While the Bible does not talk about bicycles, it does talk about accompaniment among women. Facing an uncertain future, learning a new culture, customs, language, and way of life, Naomi accompanies Rut. Naomi guides, advises, instructs, and encourages Ruth.

And Ruth, in humility and courage, allows herself to be accompanied. Leadership does not always begin with knowing what to do, but with being willing to learn. As Latina leaders, we can see ourselves in Ruth: women who migrate, move forward, learn, build, and rebuild… but not alone.

When Ruth left Moab, she did not just change lands. She changed cultures, routines, language, beliefs, and life. Ruth was learning to live again, step by step, pedal by pedal.

And in that process, God did not leave her alone. Naomi was her guide, companion, and wisdom. Her hand was on the bicycle seat.

God did not abandon Ruth in her transformation. And God does not abandon you in yours. Do you remember who your Naomi was? Who taught you how to ride a bike? Do you remember the look, the voice, the presence that encouraged you? It is possible that today, right now, God is also showing you new “bike coaches”—mentors, sisters, counselors—whom God has placed to hold you up as you learn something new.

In our growth of self-confidence, we must learn to pedal with God, and thus, with purpose and faith. Being a Latina woman in leadership is a profound calling. It is a divine combination of courage, service, compassion, and inner fire (Jeremiah 20:9). But it is also a calling to walk accompanied, woven into the community of faith that God gives us, and to believe God as we grow and build self-confidence.

God is not asking you to pedal alone. God holds you, guides you, accompanies you, and places other women on your path to do it with you.

So today, I ask you from the heart: Whom has God placed at your side in this season? Whom is God calling you to accompany? And where is God inviting you to move forward now?

God is already with you on the journey. You only need to get on, take a deep breath…
and start pedaling.