In May of this year I went on a classroom field trip with one of my girls as a chaperone to the US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte. It was AMAZING, as we were able to go white water rafting, rock climbing, zip lining and so much more. It was getting close where it was time for us to go, but we had enough time to do one more thing. We all decided to do the Hawk Jump. I had never heard of that before and yes it was just like it sounded. When we approached it we were like OMG! You had to climb up at least 13 feet and when you got up to the top you stood on a ledge just like a hawk would before it takes off. Before we went up there they put us in protective gear that would help us in coming down or if anything should happen. In order to get down you had to jump. Looking from where we stood it seemed like it might have been a piece of cake, but you had some kids who would get up there and were scared to jump and wanted to come down. They had some that had been up there for15-20 mins, so they had to go up there to get them because they weren’t coming down. As our group started to go up we would encourage each other. Some were afraid of heights, but faced their fears that day by jumping. There was some who got all the way up and just couldn’t jump, but at least they tried. I was very proud of my group. Well it was my time to go up and everyone was cheering me on. I had never been one to be afraid of heights. You could get me to do just about anything. It wasn’t until I got half way up and decided to look down that I became nervous and to be honest a little afraid. I know now why they didn’t want to go through with it. I got all the way to the top and there was hardly any room to turn around. As I stood there for a moment, fear was starting to set settle in. All I could hear from below was my group telling me to jump and that I could do it. I found myself now having to encourage myself with the same words that I had given to everyone else. As I reflected back on this moment today the thought came to mind that some people will never take flight with their dreams , visions, etc because they get stuck on the ledge, fearful of the jump. What if I don’t make it? What if I mess up? What if, what if, what if? 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love power and of a sound mind” You can never fly unless you jump. When the Eagle teaches their babies how to fly they take them high up in the sky and they drop them, but they never let them touch the ground. They continue this process until the baby begins to fly on its own. Sometimes we delay our process because of the fear of the unknown, but God said that he would never leave us nor forsake us and he would always lead us in the right path if you would only trust him with each step. Stop trusting in your own ability or inability to fly. Trust God and jump.