Copycat: The Valley and Mountaintop

Every mountaintop comes with its valleys (taken in Oregon - November 2025)

No offense, but if you haven’t heard of Bluey, an animated show about a dog family, and the main character is a six-year-old – Bluey – who has a younger sibling (Bingo) and supportive parents who have as creative of an imagination as her, then you lived under a rock up until this very moment. I also forgive you if you’re not a parent or grandparent of a toddler in 2026, otherwise your chances of not knowing anything about the show just went up.

 

For me personally, it is an inspiration for how I can aide my own young son’s blossoming personality and imagination without sabotaging it. The show’s creators do an amazing job depicting Bandit, the father, as all-in and constantly coming up with games to engage his kids. Nearly every episode shows him actively participating in whatever Bluey and Bingo’s imagination concoct for that episode.

 

In one episode, Bluey wants to play Copycat, and the episode begins with her doing exactly what her dad does right when he gets up for the day. She does a remarkable job, until she spots an injured bird. Immediately, her instincts to care for the less fortunate kick in and puts all of her focus on caring for this bird.

 

Chances are high that if you’re a parent, you’re not going to spoil it for your child – if you do not have a child, you likely don’t care enough about the outcome of one Bluey episode to worry about whether I provide spoilers or not. Of course, if you do care regardless, don’t read further.

 

Here’s the spoiler: the bird dies.

(I promise it's a show for kids)

 

This is important because it looks to completely derail Bluey, and what child wouldn’t be?

 

Then, Bluey decides to do something that changes the trajectory of the episode: she plays Copycat with Bingo, her younger sister, and Bing plays the bird. In the episode, this is clearly Bluey’s way of coping with the pain. Bingo, like any young sister not older than preschool age, does little to follow the script, and it aggravates Bluey because she wants it to be identical to her bird experience with her dad.

 

She wants it to be the exact same.

Early on, when Bluey and her dad find the bird, the bird nips at dad and in response, with fist clenched, he whispers to himself, “Toughen up, Bandit!”

 

At the beginning of Bluey’s Copycat activity with her younger sister moments later, Bluey tells Bingo she has to nip her, like the bird did to Bandit. When Bingo bites Bluey, she tells Bingo that was not a nip, but then she whispers to herself, “Toughen up, Bluey!”

 

At this point, you’ll just have to watch the episode. At the end of the episode, while mom and Bluey are sitting on the porch steps and Bingo is flying around like a living bird even though she should be pretend “dead,” dad reminds Bluey that she forgot to stop copying him.

 

“Oh yeah!” She says, though she makes no attempt to keep the game going.

 

Yet, throughout the episode, she does copy dad, even when she is pretending Bingo is the dead bird. Not only does she tell herself to toughen up like her dad did, but when both Bluey’s dad and her found out the real bird died, Bandit said, “…there’s nothing we can do. It’s out of our hands.”

When Bingo stays alive as a pretend bird and flies around, Bluey initially gets frustrated because they are supposed to pretend as accurately as possible. When mom connects the dots and asks, “That’s not how you wanted the game to go, is it?”

 

“That’s okay. There’s nothing we can do. It’s out of our hands” – exactly what dad said.

 

When we have an amazing experience with Jesus, we want to copy him and everything he did and does. We want to change everything in our own lives and the lives of others, which is a noble desire.

But, because we are not God, we often come across points where we don’t intentionally mimic the way of Jesus. Oswald Chambers calls it, “the drudgery of the valley” versus the height of the mountaintop. When we have a breathtaking experience with God, whether in prayer, worship, long walks in nature, etc. these are mountaintop experiences. The valley is where temptations, humiliation, slip-ups, and un-Christlike behavior is likely going to occur. In addition, it’s also where it feels like there is distance from God – struggle, hurt, pain, obstacles, etc. But just because we’re in the valley, there’s no law against taking the Word of God and his presence with us. In fact, this is precisely what God wants.

 

When Bluey was temporarily interrupted from her time with her dad and focused on the bird, then with Bingo acting like a pretend bird, she didn’t forget her dad’s words. They were “hidden in her heart”, like Psalm 119:11 says.

 

Maybe the injured bird of your life places you smack dab in the middle of a valley you never wanted. Who does want a valley? Maybe you shout, “This is not how it is supposed to go!” But then you remember to “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding,” (Proverbs 3:5-6) or to “not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God…will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). Bluey took her dad’s words and applied them to her own life when she felt like she was on her own in dealing with her pain. The words of her dad pulled her through the valley of losing a bird she cared for and about.

 

Chambers adds, “The last time you were on the mountain with God, you saw that all power in heaven and earth belonged to Jesus. Will you see it now in the valley?”

Larry, The Wise Racquetball Ghandi

       

             Sometimes you watch the Jeep who cut you off in traffic is the same one you watch get pulled over, and sometimes you get pulled over instead for retaliating when the Jeep cut you off. Sometimes you get cut from the basketball team when you watch the kid who cheated on the math test get a starting role on that team. Sometimes you hit the game winning home run, and the next day you strike out three plate appearances in a row. One day you sell $25 of lemonade and the next day you barely crack a dollar.

 

               And while we love to say “Life’s not fair!” as if it will immediately cure our sulky moods, we simultaneously suit up for another day of life’s up and downs, because as upsetting or joyous they can be, they are just as unpredictable too.

 

               I didn’t get pulled over recently, but me getting pulled over for getting cut off took shape on the racquetball court back in April 2026. Although it would be neat to drive around like a maniac on a racquetball court, that’s not how it went. It involved life not being fair and me throwing a gigantic fit about it. You know how it goes: you throw a fit, embarrass yourself and possibly burn some bridges in the middle of your tantrum, then realize it isn’t remotely as big of a deal as you thought after you’ve had a full-scale meltdown.

 

                Have you ever played racquetball? All you need is a racquet, a blue rubber ball, and glasses to protect your eyes. A glove for the hand you use to put your racquet in is optional. Let me spare you the detailed rules and put it this way: try to hit the ball towards the front wall with your racquet in a way that prevents the opponent from returning the shot before it bounces twice.

 

                Regardless of whether or not any of that made sense, I’m sure you can relate to doing something that is designed to be fun, but turns into a day you wish you could do over the second you think about it. If you’re like me and think you should be able to crush everyone in the sport because you play 3 times a month for less than a year, you have to work extra hard to not take a humbling loss personally.

 

                At this point, it would be best to introduce Larry, a fitness nut who, let’s just put it politely, doesn’t move on the court the way his age suggests; and without revealing his age directly, his kids are around my age. Yes, Larry is much older than me but moves on the court like he’s younger than me – and it’s frustrating. I should add that he’s on my wife’s side of the family, but in a lot of ways, he’s like a father figure to me. Don’t get me wrong, my own father far exceeds the average father, so I don’t need an extra father figure in my life because I need an exceptional father. However, it’s nice to know God blessed me with numerous father figures in my life that I am not related to by blood, and Larry is one of them.

 

            Back to racquetball: he pulls off shots that can only be successfully executed if you’re retired, play games against semi-pros, and don’t mind getting absolutely decimated by better players with the sole purpose of learning from them to get better.

 

            In summary, I just described Larry and a big reason he demolishes me every Saturday morning for two hours.

 

            He doesn’t complain, pound his racquet against the wall, and throw tantrums like I do, yet he’s the one who should be getting angry when he messes up because he’s put in far more work than me. Yet, he’s a calm as a cucumber with its sunglasses on. If I could read his mind, he would probably be thinking, onto the next shot, and that’s where his mind goes because he plays just like it.

 

            When I learn from him, it’s less about racquetball and more about composure and not letting the humility that comes with losing the point turn into embarrassment from how you respond to the humbling moment. Don’t get me wrong, he also teaches me techniques, strategies, and location of shots, but I learn the most about behavior on the court based on how he plays.

 

            Larry once told me that the best racquetball players he’s played against “never think they’ve got it all figured out. They believe they could always get better, and they are constantly learning.”

 

            Whether it is intentional or not, Larry is speaking straight from Scripture, which has a lot to say about being humble and learning no matter where you’re at in life:

Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.

                                                            Proverbs 9:9 (NIV)

            What I believe this verse is saying is simple: Wise people are coachable; righteous people never stop learning.

 

            But to learn, you need an attitude that matches it. I have discovered the hard way that my antics on the court do not give me the opportunity to learn – you can’t learn when you let your emotions carry your head to another place of personal offense.

 

             In fact, the times I get close to beating Larry, or experience the rare opportunity to beat him, my approach to each point is what helps me execute and finish strong. In one of our racquetball meetings, Larry told me, mid-game, “I can tell you play better when you don’t think about the last shot. You slow the game down and let it come to you. I can tell it helps you stay in the game.”

 

            Being coachable and humble slows the game down because you take time to learn from every shot, good or bad. The shots I refer to are not just exclusive to the court. At work, when I get caught up in the to-do list and having to rush through all of it, I can tell I get impatient with my students. When I breathe, take time to learn from my day, and rest – slowing things down – I approach my students with more grace, energy, and love.

            Don’t stop learning and growing. Don’t let the speed of life discourage you – instead, listen, add to your learning, and develop wisdom along the way. Larry has taught me a lot – not just through pickleball. I hope I use each opportunity I have with him to learn from his own experiences and how he approaches life.

 

            I also hope God has given you or gives you someone to learn from, because he has a funny way of bringing these people into your life.

 

            When they do step into your life, be glad they did: it is often God’s way of saying you need to learn a few things.