Still, we're ready (my jump partner is an EMT I met heading to Haiti after the earthquake). I'm more worried about the heat. It's supposed to get up to 110 at the drop zone - could be trouble for someone used to 70 degree coastal temps.
Skydiving Magazine says freefall doesn't feel like the roller coaster drop most people expect so that makes me less nervous. They say freefall is more like "a comfortable sensation of floating; the closest thing to human flight."
So why skydiving? I'm still trying to answer that question but maybe it just comes down to this: adventure.
Whether reporting in a disaster zone or caring for orphans in a Third World slum, adventure forces me to draw on my faith in ways ordinary life doesn't. Away from our comfort zones, we're far more dependent on God and can sense a grace higher than any adrenaline rush.
Who knows, maybe facing fear opens the door for greater grace? And grace always precedes great exploits.
A demon-possessed man who lived in tombs? Grace restored.
A soldier whose ear got cut off ambushing Jesus? Grace healed.
A woman caught in adultery? Grace forgave.
And a grandmother who almost died skydiving? Grace saved.
Grace and skydiving? Who knows. In any case, I like what the thrill-seeking grandma said to a reporter who suggested safer hobbies: "Knitting is boring."
***
Grandmother's near fatal skydive:
http://www.wtsp.com/news/national/article/256956/81/Grandmother-talks-about-terrifying-skydiving-jump
www.facebook.com/shayholland
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