Safety Net

I have never longed to jump out of an airplane, much less dive off a cliff, bridge, or other scary height. My brother, Steve,  used to jump off Stillhouse Lake bridge in high school and I thought he was nuts. He did, too.  My dad jumped out of airplanes for a living, but he said they were all night jumps (he had his eyes closed). My brothers and husband earned parachute badges, because that's what the military expected them to do.  But my girls, my girls....why do they insist on doing this?  They know that I am going to look for the hidden meaning, for the reason behind such decisions.


I think we all long to understand our safety nets.  What protects us from harm?  If you jump out of an airplane, it's a pretty sure thing you're not going to do that without a parachute.  And on your first couple of jumps, someone's gotta travel tandem with you so you know what you're doing, and they'll pull the ripcord in time.  Someone's gotta pack that chute. And someone's gotta sew that chute so it's not going to rip apart.  Someone's gotta fly to an acceptable altitude to push you out of that plane.  And someone's gotta prepare that plane for flight.  And someone's gotta prepare that pilot for safe transport.  You get my drift.  There are layers and layers of protection and risk between deciding to jump out of a plane, and actually doing it.


But I didn't have that conversation with Charlotte today.  I said something simple, like, "Be safe."  When she and I were done talking, thus began my conversation with God.  I wasn't wheeling and dealing.  I was just asking God if He would place that airplane safely in the sky, pluck Charlotte out of it with His huge hands, dangle her around in the sky so that she thinks she's jumping freefall, and then still holding her between His index finger and thumb, please just place her back on the ground safe and sound.  I mentioned that it would be okay with me if she scraped her knee on the ground just a little, not an injury, just a little rough spot,  so maybe it'll discourage her from going again.  You know, just in case. She can jump out of an airplane for one reason, and one reason only:  
He always has us in His hands, in every moment.