CLIFF JUMP
One of the craziest yet adventurous thing I have done this year has been cliff jumping!
Let me set up the stage for you…
We walked to Amoundi Bay which is known for cliff jumping. I was still on the fence whether or not I wanted to really go through it. The morning before the walk I watched cliff jumping videos on Youtube�. I had to know what I was getting myself into.
So we had to swim to a huge cliff rock to jump.
The first challenge was to swim to the cliff where I have to jump off! To be honest I am not a strong swimmer, and I have avoided swimming in deep ocean water for a long time. Automatically, I was going to stay behind. I didn’t want to die in Santorini, Greece. I watched half of my team swim in the ocean water. The moment I stepped into the water I knew I couldn’t turn back. Thank God for Lindsey for being with me the entire way. I swam and doggy paddled the entire way. In between the swim were a cluster of rocks. In that moment, I didnt know I could have stood on the rocks so I was freaking out similar to this little boy.
The challenge in swimming is trusting the water. We made it to the cliff. The next challenge was the climb up! Now I realized that if I climb up those rocks and made it to the top, I would have to actually jump! I made it this far not to jump. By this time- some of my team had already jumped in and there weren’t any casualties. I climbed and made it to the top! One by one I saw my team jump off the cliff!
I asked Jessica and Sarah Patty for advice. Both said when driving make sure its your feet first like a pencil and when you get in the water curl up like into the baby position which will be easy to float back to the top!
Right before I jump, I said to myself -I can do all things through Christ that strengthen me!
And I JUMP!!
SPLASH!! I hit the water feet first and all I could remember was the advice given to me by my team. I couldn’t believe I jumped off a cliff. It was a great experience!
SO what is the moral of this story…
I have heard so many times that trusting God in the unknown is like jumping off a cliff.
You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand
Oceans by Hillsong
My process of being at the edge was a scary feeling. I believe that as we grow deeper with God, you will always find ourselves at the edge of a cliff because God will always bring us to edge of our comfort zone.
When you are at the edge of your comfort zone is when you have to trust God. Trust that his ways are higher than yours. Trust that he will not let you down or let you drown. Being on the edge of the cliff can represent anything in your life. It can represent something new, unknown,challenging, or uncomfortable. For me it represents a new season of life. I don’t have understanding of what my next season will be but I have to trust and dive in with God.
My team encouraged me the entire way through my cliff jumping experience. God will place people to encourage you during your “at the edge” experience as well.
I conquered two fears that day: (1) the fearing of swimming in deep ocean water and (2) the fear of jumping off a cliff. Both were liberating and easy to do a second time.
If you are at your edge, I encourage you to trust God and dive all in. He is with you all the way.
Here is a glimpse of my cliff jumping experience.
