Tuesday, March 27, 2012

To Jump or Not to Jump?


Welcome to my blog and my first post! I figured to start off I would explain the reason behind the name “Jumping Off Waterfalls”. 
            Back in August my 242 group (church group) and I went to Gatlinburg for the weekend as an end of the summer get away and as a time to reconnect as we entered our senior year of high school.  It was a weekend filled with lots of talking, laughter, food, and worship.  The Saturday morning after we all woke up, we got ready to go for a hike.  The trail we took was about 2.5 miles long but at the end was Abrams Falls.  A beautiful waterfall tucked into the hills of Gatlinburg with a pool of water just calling out to jump in.  We all sat and had our picnic lunch while getting to admire the peace and tranquility that surrounded us.  As soon as I had finished eating my friend Abby was eager to remind me that I had promised I would go in the water with her.  So we took our shoes and socks off (actually Abby decided to hike in flip-flops) and the next thing I know I’m being pulled into the refreshingly cold water.  As we looked up at the waterfall, Abby suggested we climb up and jump off.  I wasn’t too thrilled about the idea but agreed to do it.  When we got to the ledge we wanted to jump off of the people below reassured us that we wouldn’t land on any rocks.  Abby started the countdown to jump but I stopped her because I wasn’t ready.  I wanted to think about what I was doing because I was scared to be doing something I hadn’t done before.  I was tempted to climb down and not jump when Abby grabbed my hand and said we were going to do this together and that I shouldn’t be scared to just jump into water.  So we jumped and splashed into the water.  The first thing I said as soon my head popped up out of the water was that I wanted to do it again, and again, and again.  I LOVED it! 
            Had I not jumped I would have missed out on a great experience.  I think our lives our filled with “waterfall” opportunities and that God is just waiting for us to grab His hand and jump; to trust in Him and His plan.   I think that He calls us to leave our comfort zones sometimes so that we can rely on Him, his strength, and his truth so that we might grow even closer to Him and have yet another experience to be able to look back on.  Knowing that “It is the Lord who goes before you.  He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy  31:8) 
            Now, when new opportunities come up and I’m hesitant towards taking them I’m reminded to “jump off some waterfalls every now and then” because life can get pretty boring if I’m always standing on the ledge.  So this is where you can follow along with my “waterfall” experiences as God calls me to “jump”.