So there I was, standing on the edge of the diving board. it had to be the tallest diving board I had ever been on. Heck, it might have been the tallest diving board in the world. It was at least 20 ft, no 50, no 100 ft into the air! I looked around, with my toes curled around the edge of the diving board. First to my mom, she stood at the edge of the pool cheering me on. Second to my swimming instructor, his legs vigorously moving underneath him so he would stay up, his arms raised up inviting me to jump in. Third to the other parties in the swimming class, as they stood ready for me to jump into the deep in and patiently waiting their turn. So without another hesitation I did it…I made all the other classmates move and I climbed back down the ladder and went to see my mom.
I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t jump. No matter what, Beau Miles wasn’t going off the diving board that week.
Later that night we were at home and mom told dad what had happend. He looked at me and said something like this, “Why didn’t you jump? You have jumped off diving boards before. Just jump Beau.” At least, that is what I remember.
So the next lesson the situation repeated itself. Me, 100ft in the air, toes curled around the edge, people,classmates and mom all patiently waiting for me to jump. The situation was exactly the same. I was still scared. I was still worried. I hadn’t learn to swim and better since the last visit. So what did I do? I took a breath and I lept. One GIANT leap right into the arms of the instructor. I came immediately back up breathing fine…floating fine…mom clapping and cheering…the instructor happy….the classmates getting ready to move forward. I had done it! I had jumped!
WHY??? What was different?
To me it is simple. My father told me to jump. I remembered his words as I stood on the edge. I was still scared; but he told me to jump. So, I did…I JUMPED!
Some of you guys know that recently I quit my job. I did it because my Father told me to jump. We are still scared. We are still anxious. We have no idea where we will land…Boston…Memphis…Huntsville…China??? NO IDEA.
But we know our Father told us to jump.
We know that one day we will land and we will come up breathing fine…swimming fine…to people cheering us on…to our instructor congratulating us…to fiends continuing to live life with us and jump for themselves. We know this will all be worth it.
So, maybe today I can encourage you in that. Have faith in knowing when your Father tells you to jump that He will take care of you. Take some time, watch the birds, know that your Father takes care of them and will take care of you. It is scary and the first step is a doozy and the ride down will be crazy but in the end you know…
Your Father Told you to jump!
Love it.