Soaring

I have goals for just about everything, even when I go on vacation. Charity always laughs at me and thinks I'm a little goofy…well, she is right about the goofy part. For example, I will have goals for how many books I want to read, how many days I will exercise, things I want to experience, etc. One of my goals on this vacation was to record as many things in words and pictures as possible. I also wanted to see God's message in the experiences that we had each day. That's one of the reasons why I'm posting thoughts about our Aruba vacation on my blog.

We had been saving for this trip for two years and one of my goals was to go parasailing. Doesn't sound like a lofty goal, however, I share Ally's same fear of heights. This fear was reaffirmed after we arrived and I watched how high those parachutes actually rise. I didn't say much about fulfilling my goal of parasailing, in fact I tried to deflect as many questions from my bride as possible. But, Charity kept prodding me and I kept making excuses and then leave it to Abby. She started begging for me to take her. "Come on Dad, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssse. You're not afraid are you?" "Uh hum…of course not, I would say." Wink, wink, to myself. "And besides, I'll bet you are not old enough, Abby, and after thinking about it...well it is awefully selfish of me to go all alone. So we'll just wait until more than one of us can go. And maybe we can all just go on a bananna boat ride." Wink, wink to myself again. "Over there's the man who schedules the trips, Tim. Go ask him if Abby's old enough and you two can go." "Gee thanks, Hon! Good thing I have a lot of life insurance." I thought to myself.

So over to the Bobby McFerrin looking dude I go. "Oh, no problem mon, we take you and the little lady. Don't worry...be happy!" He actually didn't say the last part. So, we got on board a speed boat with three guys from the Bronx, and on the way out to the speed boat, I kept coaching...I mean asking Abby…"Are you sure you want to do this?" "I'm a little nervous, but it'll be fun Dad." Of course, I was a gentleman about the whole situation and allowed Abby to go first. She loved it. "That was awesome, Dad," she said as she was reeled back in to the boat.

With a hug and a kiss and a "you can do it, Dad," I was released into the horizon with a big gust of wind and all I can say is the time 'sailed' by... too quickly. After making a perfect two point landing on the back of the boat, I received high fives, hugs, and big smiles...and that was just from the brawny New Yorkers who were just as scared and me and thankful that I survived. LOL...Abby gave me the knuckles and put her head on my shoulder and said, "I knew you could do it. Can we do it again?" What had just happened? Parasailing...yes, but more importantly a memory with my baby girl to last a lifetime.

As I snapped a picture of my tweenager on the ride back to the shore, a thought came to mind. "I probably would have passed on this goal of mine to parasail had it not been for the encouragement of this little girl young lady. She spurred me on to do something and after the experience, I'm so glad she did. Ephesians 4:29 reminds us; "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Abby's words encouraged me to do something I'd wanted to do for a long time but I was afraid to do. I wonder how many people in our lives would achieve a goal if you and I would be encouragers?