Yep, that’s right.
I jumped out of a plane. At 10,000 feet in the air.
This girl who still does not like to ride in an elevator. Who still will not ride a roller coaster that involves standing up. And who still gets scared of the dark sometimes rode in a perfectly good airplane up to 10,000 feet and then jumped out. Not to worry, I did not jump out alone. The guy strapped to my back had done this oh around 3800 times. I had nothing to worry about. And quite frankly, I was not really that scared. There was a moment when I was sitting in the plane that I was thinking, “what did I get myself into???” But then we got to the edge of plane, he said “Ready, Set, God,” and that was it. I was flying through the air.
UMMM.. COOLEST THING EVER!
60 seconds of free fall which felt like a lot longer and then whoosh.. the parachute went up and it was smooth sailing. It really felt like you were flying. And I love looking down from an airplane and seeing all the tiny houses and cars-odd I guess, but it is one of my favorite parts of flying. Even cooler to not have a huge plane enveloping you. As we slowly floated back to earth, I was relaxed and enjoying the view, totally not ready for it to end and as I landed safely back to earth, I was instantly envious of the birds. Being able to fly must be the coolest thing.
Jumping out of a plane 10,000 feet up in the air also causes you to reflect. Well, ok, most anything I do causes me to reflect because I tend to live a crazy life and jumping out of planes is just not something that everyone does. Nor even wants to do. Kinda like moving to an island or running a half-marathon. But as I landed safely back on the ground, I was reminded once again of the importance of walking by faith. I had to trust that the parachute had been correctly packaged, that the jump instructor knew was he was doing, and that he would land us smoothly so as to avoid a broken leg (ironically my biggest fear as I am currently without insurance)! And then once I was assured of all those things, I had to actually jump out of the plane. Sure most people believe that the parachute will deploy and the guy strapped to you probably does know what he is doing. But how many people actually put faith in that and jump of the plane? How many people get past watching videos or saying someday and actually do it? Maybe it is not jumping out of a plane. But what other obstacles in life are you staring at believing that everything is safe, but not putting it to the ultimate test by jumping. I can live my life as though I have faith, but until I act on that faith. Until I give beyond my means, live beyond what I believe possible, or pray bigger then I can see, am I truly living by faith? I can trust that God will do what He says, but until I jump, am I really trusting at all? Normally, I just stand there, on the edge, staring over, too scared to jump. But no more. I jumped out of a perfectly safe, decent plane with another human strapped to my back and I 100% trusted that I would land safely back on earth. How much more should I be able to trust that God has my best interests in mind?
What about you? What “planes” do you need to jump off of? What areas do you need to acting on the faith you claim to have?
