So something meaningful happened within our tiny little family…something that will forever change who my husband is. He went skydiving. And he LOVED every minute of it! He loved it so much that he is looking at doing it every year for his birthday (he would do it every day if we had the moolah!). I say it defeats the purpose of surprising him with it for his 30th, but I certainly can’t change his passion. The joy he experienced throughout the ENTIRE process (the prep, the jump, and the adrenaline surge, etc…) was just completely evident and truly awe-inspiring for me to witness. You see, I’m a scared-y-cat! Adrenaline pumps through my veins regularly, but sadly many times it’s from anxieties and fears. It was truly refreshing to witness Travis’ fearlessness to jump out of a plane 2.5 MILES FROM THE GROUND, free-fall for 60 seconds at somewhere between 100-150 mph, and pray the parachute opens. What faith and pure boldness! (see pics below, and hear my heart through the coming words…)
I have begun Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) this year, and have already been amazingly blessed by our lessons! This year’s study is in Acts, and just learning about the formation of the early-church and the Apostle’s boldness in witnessing for our God is tremendous! It’s truly testing the boldness I have in being a witness of who God is, how I live my life for Him, and how open/closed I am at witnessing His Word to others. My conclusion: I’m a wimp. I’m like a wet noodle when it comes to witnessing through WORDS (witnessing through deed I think I handle okay…with some exceptions)… We should be shouting from the rooftop what Christ has done in our lives and what He can do in others’ lives, but I know that my tiny family would be given a big ‘F’ at the top of that page.
We recently lost an opportunity for audacity as we just lost a friend to suicide yesterday, and now we sit here questioning our boldness with her. Was she struggling with things that could have been resolved if someone had the confidence to ask her about them? Were we too “politically correct” and scared at finding out what was truly occurring within her? What if we would have had the boldness to sit up and ask “have you asked God to come into your heart to transform your life so that you may know the fullness of our God?” Why are we so scared to ask these questions to people around us? Because we might be rejected and scoffed at by our neighbors?! Jesus’ disciples had the boldness to stand up to the Jewish rulers and confront them for the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. The disciples were then flogged, yet they rejoiced that they could be Christ’s witnesses (check out Acts 3 &4)!
I’m thinking I need a good dose of the Disciples’ audacity, and my husband’s fearlessness! My prayer is that we may grow in this boldness. So, if you see me on my roof, yelling about how great my God is, please listen…don’t scoff….and above all, please look to Jesus as He is able to bless the socks off of you, no matter what your past or present situations are! Your future with Him is powerful! Yes, I’m not necessarily praying for boldness to jump out of a plane, but I would love to have increased audacity to love others and SPEAK the Word to the individuals around me!
Wanna see some boldness in action??? take a look at the video and pics below!