If you didn't read Thursday's post, better stop and scroll down the page and do so now.
Today I pick up where I left off on Thursday...and were there a title, it would be:
Lessons on Courage Learned on a Zipline
The good news is that you don't have to travel all the way to Costa Rica to learn these lessons. They are right here at your fingertips. HOWEVER, I highly recommend you visit Costa Rica, if ever possible, because it is lovely...
When I signed off on the last blogpost, I'd made it to the platform, trusted the harness, the hooks, the wires, and the people who connected me to it all, took a few deep breaths, and trusted the process...
Did my fear go away as soon as I stepped off into outer space right there above the Costa Rican Rain Forest?
NO!!
So, what helped???
Here's what I learned:
1) Someone had already gone before....
I watched half of my group go zipping along, getting to the platform on the other side. They lived to tell the story, and I thought to myself, "Maybe I will, too... After all, these tour-guide-adventure-people can't afford to have someone die on their watch!" It is HUGE to see others do what you are scared to death to do...and it boosts courage just a bit!
2) Someone, who was waiting on the other side, was cheering me on...
...and waiting for me with outstretched hands and a huge smile on her face! That person was Karla, one of the tour guides. No question that she knew who the biggest chicken in our group was! But, knowing she was there, and seeing her smile, warmed and relaxed my soul. I just "fixed my eyes on Karla!" Seriously...
3) A GOOD WORD!
The whole way to the other side, only one thing filled my thoughts: a song! At the top of my lungs, not caring who heard, I sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness...." As I sang it, I was preaching the words to my soul. God was faithful...He would see me to the other side! There was NO REASON TO FEAR!
Find your word and preach it to yourself. King David did - just read the Psalms. He did this A LOT!
4) Community
I had the BEST group of cheerleaders I could ever ask for at my side, cheering me on. They poured out their love in multiple ways (not to mention they made me laugh)... Remember that tram I posted a picture of in the last blog? When one of them wanted us to look at the creek below, another of our gals said (rocking the tram as she looked over the side), "There's a creep down there? What's a creep? I want to see a creep!" That popped in my head, as well, as I sped down the wire to the other side. Laughter is really good medicine! Besides that, my girls gave me some accountability - NO WAY would they have let me get out of this adventure, and they were there to "spur me on," even if it meant they had to give me the first push.
5) Doing the same thing over and over again (in other words, putting it all into practice)!
No one told me that there would be more than one zipline (cowards!). That's right, I didn't do just one, I did ten! With each zipline, we went further and faster....and, I might add, a little bit higher. The girls kept asking me, "What's your favorite?" My standard answer: "Ask me when we're done..." By the time I got to #10, I yelled, "This one is my favorite!" Dear Karla laughed and asked, "Because it's the last one?" Well.................................maybe................................ But, by #10, I was in the rhythm. My deep breaths were shorter breaths; my jump-offs were quicker; I actually began to look around a whole lot more, and found myself in absolute AWE at the beauty around me. As we moved from zipline to zipline, I finally felt free to fly through the trees without any sense of panic....
The Lord does train His servants in righteousness...
More importantly:
6) There was a goal / purpose in front of me!
That morning, sailing through the tree tops was NOT my goal. That morning, my goal was to acknowledge the fear and run straight toward it. That morning, my goal was to live life a little fuller, to experience something new, to take a step toward #bebrave. So, that is exactly what I did. Will I become a non-paranoid adventure-seeker? Probably not. But, for that one day, I found freedom in trusting the Lord through the process, and in the trust, that day I lived LIFE to the FULL!
Do you see the spiritual connections? Of course you do!
Jesus has gone before us...
He knows what's ahead and He's cheering us on...
He is waiting on the other side with outstretched arms, nail-pierced hands, and a smile on His face....
He's given us His GOOD WORD;
and, a community we should never neglect - His church....
and, He's a God of laughter in the middle of our mess (if we just look for the humor, we'll find it)...
Not only that, He's patient with us, as we practice the steps in the midst of the hard...
And, He promises to give us LIFE, more than abundant, and overflowing!
So much so, that it spills over to others - and splashes a little JOY all over them!
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