So on Sunday the 19th I took a leap of faith off of a platform with just a bungee cord strapped to my ankles. I was asked on Friday if I wanted to go and I hesitated because I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that yet. But my squad leader convinced me to go ahead with it. So Sunday came along and we headed to the extreme sports center about 45 minutes from our hostel. Everyone was so quiet and seemed nervous. What if the cord broke? What if we slipped and went feet first? Would we get whiplash? These were the questions running thru my head. So we arrived and they needed someone to go first so I said “why not? Let’s get this over with.” As they were putting the straps around my ankles the guy kept joking that this was his first time doing this and he wasn’t sure if it was the right way to do it. Needless to say, he didn’t provide much comfort.
So I got all strapped up and we headed up the tower. The guide told me there are 3 things I need to remember. 1. Don’t look down. Take in the view from up top. 2. When you are bouncing don’t grab onto the cord. 3. He will count 1, 2, 3, bungee! And i will put my arms out and lean forward and fall. I thought “well that should be easy enough.” We reached the top and I was standing out on the edge and the view was beautiful! There were mountains everywhere and the sun was hitting them just right. I didn’t want to jump because I wanted to enjoy the view more. But needless to say I did jump and it was such a crazy feeling. Not having any control over your body is quite the experience.
I think that’s how God wants us to live our lives. In full surrender to him and taking leaps of faith every day. We can stop and enjoy the view and then take a leap of faith into the unknown. That’s how I want to live my life. Taking leaps of faith every day and trusting that God is going to catch me every time like the rope caught me when I jumped off the platform. I feel like that is what the Race has been like. We have to enter every day with an attitude of letting go of our agenda and allowing God to show up and show us his agenda. It’s not easy giving up control but it has been a good lesson for me and my team. God shows up in powerful ways if you let him; he shows up in the big things and the little things. I have learned that he does answer prayers, just not always in our timing. Which is a good thing because if he immediately answered our prayers every time we asked him to then we would be spoiled rotten and life would be too easy. So I guess what I’m trying to say is to trust that God knows what is best for you and if you give him full control of your life he will show up in every situation. Look for him, he’s ready and waiting for you to come to him.
-Andrea
*sorry if this is a little jumbled…i didn’t edit it much
