“For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”

Isaiah 41:13 NIV

“Are you sure these straps will hold the both of us,” I asked as the skydiving instructor checked all the buckles on my harness. “I am sure,” he said. “Besides whatever happens to you happens to me. And I don’t want anything happening to either of us,” he added smiling.

I have always had a little daredevil in me. I am an only child and when I got together with my cousins, who were all boys, we could get into a lot of things. When they climbed the big oak tree in my uncle’s pasture – I waited until all of them were up in the tree, before I began my climb up. Sitting on the fork of that old oak I realized for the first time I feared heights.

As I boarded the plane, I couldn’t get the image of that oak tree out of my head. “What am I thinking – I don’t even climb ladders,” I said to myself as the tiny plane taxied down the runway.

As the plane climbed to the jump location, the pilot radioed that two souls were leaving the aircraft. Souls. Before I could ponder that word. The pilot yelled, “Open door!” Suddenly I was staring at the ground from 13,000 feet in the air. The force of the wind made it hard to stand.

“You ready?” my jumpmaster said patting me on the shoulder. “On my count, one, two and on three we jump!”  We tumbled several times in our freefall. He pulled the cord, and like a rocket we shot up in the sky. My heart beat fast from the adrenaline rush. “What do you think?” he asked. The beauty of the sky and the quietness was breath taking. A bird flew by and chirped at us as if we were interrupting her flight.

What peace I felt as I drifted in the sky descending back to the ground. As I took in the scenery – I thought about God’s beautiful creation. I wondered how anyone could say God doesn’t exist. Who else could create such a masterpiece. The freedom I felt floating in the sky. It is the freedom you feel when you invite Jesus into your heart. No, you will not be able to float through all the days of your life, but when challenges come you will be attached to the One who doesn’t use a safety harness – He simply holds your hand until you arrive at your destination.

Mitzie Avera