Skydiving

By Charis Seeley

               The tiny plane rose higher and higher into the sky. I hunched over on the floor, sandwiched between the pilot and small door. My instructor, Dennis, sat in front of me. Only the pilot had a seat. Too late to go back now.

                I pressed a finger to my carotid artery. My heart pumped stronger, but no faster, than usual. I fought the urge to fiddle with the chest straps on my harness. Are these tight enough? I looked at the pack on Dennis’ back. I check my altitude bracelet. The needle danced at 9,000 feet.

                Dennis turned around. He joined our harnesses so that my back touched his chest. He checked a bunch of clasps I couldn’t identify. His right hand extended over my shoulder and gave me goggles. “Are you ready to jump out of a fully functioning airplane?”

                I’m not sure if I nodded or said yes. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a ‘No’.

                He twisted the handle, and the plane door popped open. At that height, there’s almost no way to conceive how fast you’re going. I remembered the instructions he gave me on the ground. He’ll put his right foot onto the step. My right foot goes outside his. Then I’ll move my left foot onto the step. He’ll pull back on my head and count into my ear. Then we’ll jump. While in freefall, I only need to let my arms and legs relax. He’ll do the rest.

                I moved closer to the doorway. Something in my body railed against this. In that moment, I knew I should be afraid of falling. I laughed in my head. That’s why I’m here! And the fear was gone. I looked down and saw his right foot on the step. I guided my foot to the place it should be. Or I try. The wind was so strong that it blows my whole leg around like a flag. I don’t remember how my left foot ended up outside of the plane. Neither of them ever touched the step.

                Dennis spoke and counted. Then we fell, twisted and flipped in the air. My body was not relaxed and concave.  I had pulled a ‘Superman’; my legs and arms were stiffer than a sheet of plywood. I felt his ankles wrap around mine and yank them back. We steadied out. His hands gripped my biceps and cracked them into the proper position.  I felt something snap on my left shoulder. My arm had come out of socket and he pushed it back in.

                The rest of the flight was smooth. At 6,000 feet, I pulled my own parachute. We landed to the cheers of friends. It wasn’t like the drop on a rollercoaster, but it was definitely fun.

                My right foot reminds me of when God asks something of us and we obey without commitment. On the ground, Dennis said “I have a vested interest in your safety. We’re strapped together with one parachute. I want to live. You’re going to be fine.” It put my mind at ease. I knew I didn’t really have to try very hard. Dennis would fix it. When we obey God’s original call to action but do not follow it through with the actions He requires of us, we’re bound to get hurt. It is important to put your right foot onto the step, but a lack of commitment will have you uncontrolled freefall and your endeavor will not bear fruit.

Location, Location, Adaptation

By Kristi Paxton

 As our two kids got older, we became smarter, and then thrilled when they asked us for advice on choosing first apartments—one in New York City, the other in Denver, Colorado.

At age 57, I couldn’t help but obsess about their choices, wanting to impart upon them my hard-earned real estate wisdom: location, location, location.

 In the end, each chose a place that was more value than location.

Frantic about this, I lost sleep over their picks until I woke up to one important fact: we all have a right to learn from our experiences.

 Our own first love nest was an ancient rented farmhouse, our backyard literally a stinking cattle feedlot, our entry decorated with three fly-covered pest strips fluttering like windsocks above the door.

We were in  Heaven

In a let-go-and-let-God moment, I notice a wren singing joyously atop a rotting birdhouse hung from the soffit above our deck—the kids will be fine.

PASSING THE TEST

By Michael Elmore

No one likes to takes tests. I remember the very first test I took in seminary; my hands were shaking because I was so nervous. (Incidentally, I aced the test!)
In 1 Corinthians 10:13, 14, the Bible states that God tests us, “No test has seized you except what is common to everyone. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it”

God’s tests are not like pencil and paper tests. His tests aren’t to see what we know; he wants to see what we are. His tests are more like drop forging hot metal. In the process of drop forging, one metal is combined with another and then dropped into a vat of cold water to see if it cracks or remains strong. In this way it can be shaped and molded. The purpose of God’s test is to make us stronger by shaping us into the image of Christ.

As I said, no one likes tests. However the apostle Paul shares with us three things in this verse that will help us “ace” God’s test. The first secret to passing the test is to realize that you are not in a unique situation; the test you are going through is “common to everyone”. In other words, lots of people have or are facing the same thing you are. God is not picking on you.

The second secret to passing the test is to realize that, “God is faithful”. Like the Marine motto “Semper Fi”, you can count on God not to test you beyond what you can stand up under. Will you face pressure while being tested? Of course! We must realize that most of us rarely change unless we are pressured to do so. That is why James 1:2 says, “Count it all joy brothers when you face many kinds of tests.” Why? God is doing his best to help you change for the better. God guarantees that the pressure won’t be so great that we will fail the test.

The third secret to passing the test Paul says is that “when we are tested God will provide a way out.” What we don’t realize is that “the way out”, is “often the way through”. I went through the largest corn maze in the State of Iowa with my family. We all went in and wondered around in circles asking other people for directions. Finally, we spotted a platform where we thought that we would see the way out. Up on top of the platform we soon realized that we were stuck in the middle of the maze. We could see the end but we still had to go through the maze to get there. Fortunately, an employee met us and offered to take us through to the exit. God doesn’t provide a way out, but he does provide a way through. The secret to passing the test is to realize that it is God who takes us through.

You may be saying to yourself, “hey, I am going through a whopper of a test RIGHT NOW and I need help. Like a dead car battery your strength might be used up and you don’t think you can make it. That’s exactly where God wants us to be . . . wholly dependent on his power. Open yourself heart right now and receive a boost of God’s power to recharge your life. Remember, “God is faithful he will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear.” Use the three secrets the Apostle Paul gives us to pass this test: tests put the pressure on us but God will never let it become too great that you can’t stand it. You are not unique many people face tests like yours and pass it successfully. Don’t forget, you may have to go through the test, but you are not alone God goes through it with you.

Michael Elmore

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