Stepping off the spring board

Today is such an amazing day for me! Sunday’s are usually a day of rest and reflection; we sleep in, turn on the TV and watch “Meet the Press,” and you go to church! Right? Yes, but with me… every day is never how you plan it!

Yesterday I promised myself a day off from marathon training… what did I do? I ran 3 miles this morning at 6:30AM, then I went on another run at 9AM again. I am so tired, I need to rest as I will burn myself out before race day! After my run I had a big breakfast – eggs, ham, wheat bread, fruit and cottage cheese. After breakfast I cleaned up and rested a while before church.

Today I was meant to meet with the kid’s mom, but the meeting got cancelled late last night. So my morning was freed up and I went to the Mall for a while. Yesterday we the staff met to discuss some important issues about our direction and leadership, and today, we presented to the church congregation the new vision and core areas of focus. See yesterday’s post – Vision & Purpose.

Well today went like clock work, the whole team did a great job of presenting the church’s vision and purpose for all to see and hear. Everyone was impressed and committed to make it work! Isn’t God amazing? During the sermon Pastor Don spoke of a personal story he remembers from his childhood. Now we all have these stories and fond memories, but this one made an impact in all who listened.

Pastor Don spoke of a day when he went to the local pool to swim. During the day he watched the bigger boys climb up the diving platform, some 3 metres up and saw them jump into the water below. Easy right? From down below everything looks easy. But as he climbed up the ladder to get to the diving platform, he looked down, now the view was different from above. No longer did it look easy, but it was scary, it was something he was not comfortable to handle. Pastor Don recalls the feeling of helplessness and fear as he stepped onto the diving board. We all can remember a time when we stepped onto a spring board as a kid! It looked so easy to do, but it was scary.

As Pastor Don continued, he recalls the lifeguard called out to him to jump or move back and step onto the platform to allow others to jump. But instead down below stood his father, who called out to him and said to move forward and jump! He had a choice – step back off the spring board or take a chance and jump into the water. He did jump off the diving board into the water!

I recall a few weeks back we went to SVL with the kids for the afternoon. Tyler is always following me, watching me and doing things like me, he is looking for a role model and a strong, solid trusting relationship in me. He was playing on the play gym and wanted to climb up and jump off the top rung of the gym. Now, Ty is always ready to try anything to show me he can be just as strong, determined and courageous. Today he wanted to jump off the highest rung. As he climbed up he was confident and sure of himself. But as he turned around he grabbed the bar with both hands and stopped. I thought, “What is he waiting for?” He looked at me with this confused look, he was unsure if he could do this! I asked him why he wasn’t jumping, and Tyler responded – “I can’t.” Now he sometimes says that to get me to do the task for him, but this time it was just him and I couldn’t help him.

I looked at him and said, “Tyler jump, you can do it, trust me!” And after a few seconds he closed his eyes and leaped off the top rung of the play gym. As he landed on the soft sand he opened his eyes and saw that he landed on his feet and he was OK. He looked up at me and had the biggest smile on his face – a feeling of accomplishment and success. He then climbed back up and did it again and again and again. I don’t know if it was me telling him to jump, or telling him to trust me or if it was his determination to take risks and hope for the best? Maybe all three!

But here is the moral of the story… we all know of a time when we are standing there on the spring board, looking down and wondering what to do, step back and wait for another time to try, or take a chance by stepping off the spring board and trusting our Father. I can recall many times when I’ve jumped off the spring board and I made it, and I did it again and again. We need to take a chance with God every now and then. Our faith allows us to trust in Him to know when we take that leap of faith, He will be there to say it’s OK! JUMP!

Here is today’s scripture – “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?” – Psalm 27:1

So as I end this weekend and look forward to a new week tomorrow I know I can jump anytime because my [Father] is standing there below telling me it’s OK… Jump!