Still Alive!

After reading my last post, I was amused to think I ended the post with going skydiving and then haven't written again for 8 months. I am still alive! It was an amazing experience that actually got a bit dicey because my first shoot did not open. When you are tandem skydiving, you don't really want to hear your instructor start swearing behind you. However, there is comfort in knowing that he has as much skin in the game as you do, so he is going to figure this out for both of you.

So we watched the first shoot fly away and then deployed the second shoot. It was a moment to ask myself, "am I ready to go see Jesus?" My answer was yes and I felt profound peace as we kept falling. It surprised even me! Once we were settled, my instructor thanked me for not freaking out. I told him I trusted him and I was sure that was not going to be helpful to our situation. But I also told him, I know where I am going next. I am ready.

It was an amazing day for my daughter and I. There is a peace when you jump out of a plane that I did not expect. It was quite and tremendously beautiful while we were free falling. God could not have given us a more perfect day to jump. In true brave fashion, my daughter went first. I cannot wait to see what that kid is going to do in this world. It is going to be awesome and I pity the fool that gets in her way!

Afterwards we had the most comfort food you could possibly eat at a Cracker Barrel on the way home. But we sat and marveled while the adrenaline wore off that we had just done something incredible together. And to be honest that is the part we loved the most. We did it together. That was the part we will savor for the many years to come. That is the part we will champion at the Thanksgiving table when she is married and has kids of her own. "I jumped out of a plane with my mom!" That is a badge of honor for me and an amazing memory for us.

The truth is I was badly bruised for several weeks after the jump and during the jump I almost threw up because of the way the chute deployed. So what! All that pain and discomfort was fleeting compared to the long lasting, life changing event I shared with my daughter. It reminds me of a verse.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NASB)

16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

That sounds about right. I want my eyes fixed on the things that are unseen. These are the great stories that come out of the crazy mommy days or the defiant child days. Life is hard but I wonder if that actually makes the stories sweeter sometimes.

Perhaps you don't need to jump out of a plane with your kid, but what could you do today that would be epic between the two of you? I also remember being curled up in a chair with my daughter reading Old Yeller together when she was only 8 years old. Together we just sat and cried as we read. It is just as powerful and wonderful a memory for me as jumping out of a plane. (and I was not bruised afterwards)

On the day of the jump we certainly felt like "Another Homeschool Success Story!" had been written after we were both safe on the ground. How will you jump today and trust God for great stories with your kids?

I hope you do and so do they.