leap of faith.

I have this friend.  Some of you may know him.  His name is Peter.  And one day, (in Matthew 14:22-32) the Lord spoke through Jesus, and told Peter to step out of a boat and walk on water. Through a leap of faith, he walked on the water, but not without stumbling first.  However, despite his stumble, he still defied the laws of nature.

If someone were to ask me to describe my summer working at a Boy Scout Camp, I would have to say:  IT WAS A LEAP OF FAITH. I worked as a whitewater raft guide, on the New River Gorge in Fayetteville, WV.  On the days I wasn’t rafting, I was working at Camp Powhatan in Pulaski, VA.  My employer…the Boy Scouts of America.  Now I myself was never a scout, but I have many friends who were, and my best friend happens to be an Eagle Scout.

I set off not knowing exactly what I would be getting myself into, but that’s what intrigued me!  It was a leap of faith.  For the first time, I was up against something that I had no prior knowledge of.  I spent two weeks at raft guide training, which proved to be the most difficult two weeks of my life, complete with losing 15 pounds.  My fellow trainees and I completed 28 trips in 14 days, along with swift water rescue training and various other certifications.  But I believe the hardest test, was the test against my faith.

During my prior semester in school, my faith grew immensely and I’d like to say that I had done a fairly good job at being an okay example to others who may be struggling with their faith.  However, when you’re forced to live in a 5x6 tent for two weeks, things begin to look pretty dim.  Now I knew I was strong enough to complete the training, but when the physical and mental exhaustion set in, I began to lose faith.  Faith in myself, and faith in God. I knew that He was there watching over me, but I sometimes wondered if He was actually helping me out any. I fought with these thoughts for a couple days and then as the second week drew to an end, I was dealt a huge revelation.

One of my close friends, Grace McAbee, a fellow Halifax native was there training with me.  Now you may be thinking to yourself, “Why on earth would a girl want to put herself in such a tough situation?”  She came because of her own leap of faith.

In order to become a raft guide, you have to pass two tests.  So as Grace began her second test of training, spirits were high.  But as she dropped into the first warm-up rapid of the day, something went wrong.  She lost her brace and slipped out of the raft and into a re-circulating hole.  After being held under for nearly a minute, she finally emerged gasping for breath.  Her face said it all.  The lack of color in her skin, and the short gasps were enough to make even the most experienced guide tremble.

I talked to her later that day, and she had this to say:  “Lamentations 3: 54-58.”

Ok?  I don’t really know where that came from, but I’ll take it. When I got back to my tent, I grabbed my Bible and looked up the passage.

"The waters closed over my head, and I thought I was about to be cut off.  I called your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit.  You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.”  You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.”  O Lord, you took up my case; you redeemed my life."

What else is there to say?  From the depths of the pit, God called out to Grace and said do not fear; have faith!  Faith is defined as believing in something that cannot necessarily be seen.  Even though I sometimes felt like God wasn’t directly helping me, I soon realized that through Grace’s accident, God was telling me not to worry.  He was there!

Getting the chance to work at Boy Scout camp, gave me the amazing opportunity to meet a lot of great people.  I was privileged to get to teach many scouts, a lot of whom I can still remember their names.  During week two, I met a kid named Knick.  He was the class clown of the troop and by the end of the week, I felt like I had finally gotten across to him.

All week he had been getting picked on by the older guys, so needless to say he didn’t trust them very much.   He was deathly afraid of heights as well.  Now in my program, New River Adventure, we have a two days devoted to Low Cope and High Cope.  Low Cope teaches team-building, while High Cope pushes you to reach and overcome personal goals.  So when our High Cope Day arrived Knick was very apprehensive.  He ended up completing the course fine and had a great rest of the week.

After the closing campfire, we all decided to meet up to say our goodbyes.  We went around the circle and stated our high of the week and what we had learned, everyone except for Knick.  So we all eventually said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.  As I was walking away, Knick walked up to me with tears in his eyes and said: “Phil, thank you.”

“For what?”  I asked him, confused.

“For teaching me how to trust.”

I can honestly say that nothing feels better than hearing someone tell you that you made an impact in their life.

Knick placed his faith in me, and in turn placed his faith in God.  He saw something in me that he found easy to relate to, and I owe this God.  God gave me the opportunity to teach someone younger than me how to have faith in something greater than me.  Knick grew a little closer to God that day, whether he knew it or not.

Now, while Knick’s story will forever remain with me, I have to admit that the pinnacle of my summer came during the final week of camp.  You see I have this new friend.  You don’t know him, but his name is James.  James has cerebral pausey and has never been able to swim, climb stairs without help, or even climb a ladder.

I met James on a Sunday, and by Wednesday, he had made an impact on my life that I will forever carry.  I was working the High Cope course on Wednesday and James and his father had come to give it a try.  While his dad was a little nervous about the course, James jumped right in line.  His only goal was to make to the top of what’s called the Giant’s Ladder.  The Giant’s Ladder is the type of ladder where the rungs get farther and farther apart the high you go.  Now after about 15 minutes, he was 40 feet in the air, having completed his goal.

With a smile on his face, he continued on with the course, much to everyone’s surprise.  Pushing through a few slips here and there, James managed to make it all the way to what’s called “The Leap of Faith” (it’s two platforms about 3 ½ feet apart that you have to jump across).  This is the sixth element of the course.  He looked down at me, with his eyes wide and full of excitement, and a huge grin on his face, and asked, “You got me?”

“Yes,” I replied.

He then responded with, “You sure you got me?”

I think James embodies the way Christians view God.  We want to do so many adventurous things, and we set these lofty goals for ourselves, and yet we always have trouble trusting.  We come to the edge of some mountain in life, and we ask, “You got me?”  “Are you sure you got me?”

The answer is, YES!  He’s got us!  Most Christians are so afraid of what someone is going to think of them that they can’t just trust…they can’t jump!  Sure, we go to church every Sunday and occasionally we say a prayer or two for someone in need.  But how far from that do we actually go?  How much more are we really willing to put out there?

My guess is that we’d all love to do more than we do, but it’s just not convenient with our schedules.  Or maybe our excuse is, “Well so-and-so isn’t doing it, so why should I?”  When God puts us in challenging situations, we cower away with our tails tucked between our legs.  But why?  Because we’re far too afraid, and comfortable with our lives, to trust that God knows what He’s doing.

After about three minutes of going back and forth with James, I finally looked up at him and asked, “James, do you trust me?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you trust that God is gonna keep you safe?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then, what’s there to be afraid of?”

And he jumped.  It only took him about two seconds to make it to the other side, but for everyone watching, time seemed to stand still (as cliché as it sounds).  It was a once in a lifetime moment that I will never forget.  I tear up now just thinking about it.  Even though James didn’t complete the entire course, it doesn’t matter.  He accomplished his goal and then some.  James taught me something that day that I didn’t learn from reading about Peter in the Bible.

He took a leap of faith that day, and it’s one that I think we all can learn from.  It’s not about whether you guide rafts through class V rapids, teach kids about team-building, or sell hamburgers at McDonalds.  It’s all about taking an adventure.  Setting a goal and reaching it.  Like Peter walking on water, or Knick trusting his fellow scouts, or James climbing a ladder, it’s about confronting a challenging situation and putting trust in the Lord.

So the next time you find yourself on the edge of a high cliff, or at the head of an unmarked trail, will you choose to turn and go the other way, or take a leap of faith?