As I stood at the edge of the platform 30' in the air with my six year old son next to me, I realized there was no time for me to be scared. I said quick prayer, I mean we were are at church camp, maybe I should have prayed a little sooner.
"Landon, do you want to do this?" I asked him in the calmest voice I could muster.
"Yes, dad," he timidly replied.
On that affirmation I told him we go on three, "1...2...3!" and I jumped from the 30' platform.
Seven months ago Landon and I stood in line waiting for him to go off a 12' zip line at Camp Tejas. With his gear on he looked up to me and asked, "Dad, did you do this at my age?"
With hesitation, I replied, "Son, dad has never done the zip line." He went on to zip several times and loved it.
Fear. I noticed in 2009 a small amount of fear crept into my life. Maybe it was upcoming fatherhood or maybe it was age, for some reason fear was real to me. Fear prevents many people from doing many things: zip line, talking to others, dark rooms - the list is probably endless. In my case, heights was the fear.
As I watched my six year old son climb up the 30' ladder at Trinity Pines Conference Center, I knew I had to choose life over fear. To be there beside him, comfort him and experience something with him; fear needed to be expelled.
I confess, I did ask the ropes course certified facilitators to check Landon and my own gear at least 15 times, just to reassure myself. Of course, once would have been enough, but 15 times is acceptable too.
2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
Whether it's a 30' zip line or telling someone about Jesus, we need to put fear away and begin to live in the power of Jesus. Love others, control ourselves and let Jesus rule. These are just a few things God reminded me about at our week at camp.
Thank you, son, for being fearless when your dad was not. An encouragement to me in a huge way. And I loved the zip line! I think we are all looking forward to our next adventure.
In Christ, live without fear, otherwise you are not living.
Blessings.
