Life is like a Giant Swing

This past weekend, I went on a retreat at Butler Springs Christian Camp. It's a really cool camp and the retreat was run by an organization called One21. The camp itself has all sorts of fun stuff like a high ropes course, a zip-line, a playground,a really long slide, and a giant swing. Now, I don't know if you've ever been on a giant swing, but it's scary. I had the opportunity to go on it once before, but I didn't and I bitterly regret it. So this time, I was determined to go on it.

For those of you who don't know, a giant swing is basically what it sounds like, but a little bit different. It's either telephone poles or trees with ropes attached to them. They harness you in and pull you up to the top of the tree/pole and you have to let go of this little purple strip of fabric, and you swing through the air. It's basically the most terrifying thing I've ever done.

So, aside from me making the mistake of telling the guy it was my first time doing this, and having him mess with me mercilessly, I was seriously nervous. So, I got up maybe 3/4 of the way, and I had them stop me because that was plenty high for me. They called me a wuss, but I stuck with it. And I sat there with my hand on the purple fabric going, "Why did I do this again?" So they made me count down from three, and then go. So I did, and I screamed bloody murder, but it was so insanely worth it. I kind of regretted not going all the way to the top, though. So I did it again and went all the way up. Which was so much more terrifying, but in a good way.

Anyway, I was thinking about this later while I was listening to the preacher talk in a session. The giant swing is a perfect analogy for life.

Here's the deal: When you want to do something with your life, it's hard. It's scary. And it's easy to only go halfway, but you'll regret it. And when you're up at the top by the tree- aka, when you're about to do something scary or potentially life changing- It's so easy to want to quit. But you have to do it yourself. You have to make the choice to let go of that purple fabric. Because clutching it for dear life gets you nowhere and you can't just sit on your butt and wait for someone else to do it. You have to have faith in yourself and in God that you will be okay. And when you let go, and you do that thing you were scared to do, it's terrifying. Things come at you like the rushing wind on a swing and you may not know how to handle it, but once you get past the initial part, the rest is exhilarating. And you realize how glad you are that you took the chance.

But also, if you only do something halfway, you're going to regret it, just like when I didn't go all the way to the top. It's not the same feeling only doing something as well as you think you can handle. Because, see, God says he won't give us anything we can't handle. And if we go to the top of the swing and just let go, we won't regret it.

Another thing it makes me think of is how we need other people in our lives. When you're on the giant swing, you need a team of people to pull a rope down a hill so that you can get up to the top of that tree. And not just one person. One person isn't strong enough. You need a team. Otherwise you get nowhere. And that's how it is with life. You can't go through life alone and expect to help anybody. You need people to help you along and that's why God created community.

Anyway, I think I'm out of giant swing analogies. But that was something I thought about and I wanted to share it, because it definitely stuck out to me as something significant.

Dude, I think I totally just upstaged whoever called life a roller coaster. Just saying.

Lisa

P.S. And yes, this is me saying, if you ever have the opportunity to ride a giant swing, TAKE IT.