Stand Up and Step Away

(Remembering really fun moments from a few years ago …)

The cable was as thin as my confidence that it could actually bear my weight.

I looked across the ravine to where my landing place would be, and I looked down into the ravine where I did not want my landing place to be.
And then I just shook.

Good grief.

I was zip lining.

Now just let me say…
For those of you who have done this, and the experience was not fearful and only exhilarating…I applaud you.
High-five. Atta’ girl. I’m impressed. Really.

But my first time?
This was even waaayyy more unsettling than The Bouncy Gym.
At the Bouncy Gym, I knew that when my feet left the ground they would certainly return within moments.
And they had something soft to land on.

But skimming across the tops of the trees meant that my feet weren’t going to hit the earth for a while.
And rocks aren’t soft.

But oh, my.
I’m so glad I did it!
On my second zip, I even opened my eyes.

The experience itself was so cool.
But even cooler than stepping outside my fear and saying in a cocky, it-doesn’t-really-matter voice, “Yeah. I went zip lining today. No big deal.” …

I was doing it with Girlfriends.

Friends I had just met.
And let me tell you…some intense bonding can take place rather quickly when some of us are wondering how big our bottom half looks in a contraption that fits tightly around our thighs while leaving our butts sticking out for all the world to notice!

It was Girlfriends at a retreat sharing moments, laughing, crying, talking about Jesus, and eating a whole lot of chocolate. Reflecting on real life. Our stories.
Whispering from our hearts about our somethings. (Because everyone has something, right?)

And…

We were choosing to live outside our somethings — our messy places. Because that’s what God intends us to do.

We were reminding each other that life is bigger than our small world and we don’t need to stay in a rut and it is OK to laugh and giggle and not think about those not-easy-things in our daily routines.

We lifted our faces to the sun, voices to the heaven, ankles to the tree tops, and our arms to each other and bathed in the warmth and love of friendship.
And we zip lined.

Sometimes it becomes too easy to sit in the worries and responsibilities of today. We get comfortable with the chair and the space and the energy. Then it gets harder to move out of it.

But you know, Girlfriends? We gotta’ move!
We can’t spend all our time in the tough places.

And even though God meets us there…

We just need to stand up and step away from the messiness sometimes.

Here in Minnesota, we have just a few weeks left before ice scraping and shoveling, and Michelin-man parkas become part of our everyday experiences.

Let’s. Have. Some. Fun.
Move out of your chair.
Dance with your Girlfriends.
Celebrate what is good and right in your world.
Zip line.