I know most of you have seen this picture. It has been on all of our face books. I know it will be forever embedded in my memory. It was also the picture posted in the Sunday bulletin today. The passage David used was Phillipians 4:12-14."I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. " (The Message)
I spent weeks worrying about this event. My Kate. Jumping out of an airplane. Strapped to a strange, old man. Wearing weird shoes (the old man, not Kate and that was Molly's observation.) A teeny, tiny parachute. For two. Of all the counter-intuitive things to do. Well, as with most things in her life, Kate handled it gracefully and embraced it to the fullest. I have the video to prove it. But this is really about me, and my experience. The bottom line-she jumped, she fell, she landed. Safely. There are many parallels to her jump and life in the spirit. Number one, she didn't do it alone. She was embraced by a community of likewise minded people all on the same mission. Their objective: to share their experience with others and in the journey to be transformed. She was also there with tremendous support from those who know and love her best...her aunt, uncle and cousin. You know, I've got to hand it to my brother (the jump instigator and one of my kid's biggest fans,) he said she was different when she left to come home. He's right. The experience changed her. It also changed me. I need to have that faith, that unwavering trust in what, to me, is counter intuitive and appears to be fool hardy. I need to take a hard look at my life and find my own "jumping off" place. Then, well, I guess I need to....jump.
P.S. I have profound thankfulness to the old man in the funny shoes who was with her every step(?) of the way. By the way, that last step was a big one :)
