Too fat for wind

Last week I was down in Frisco, TX for the NDSU championship football game. Next to our hotel was…by all counts…the most tempting and fabulous building I had ever seen. On the outside it read in beautiful neon letters: Indoor Skydiving.

I’ve ALWAYS wanted to skydive. It’s been one of my bucket-list items, for sure.

When I was 14, my Godmother took me on a 3 day trip to Hawaii to celebrate my birthday/confirmation. She was a flight attendant with NorthWest and had the chance to fly me for free. One of the things we did while in Hawaii was a flight in a glider plane (no engine – it is pulled thousands of feet into the air by another plane and then they cut the rope and we glide down to land). While that was awesome, I was hooked as soon as I saw that they also offered skydiving. I went inside – started to learn all the safety stuff – and then they asked me how old I was.

Turns out you had to be 18 to throw yourself out of a plane. Who knew that insane decisions were best in the hands of just adults!?!

So here I am – in Texas – with a few hours to kill and a chance to fulfill a life-long dream waiting in the building next door. So we venture over – and I ask the nice gentleman behind the desk about the details. Without beating around the bush, I ask if they have a weight limit on indoor skydiving (which involves a wind machine and a padded room – not near as risky as jumping out of a plane). Sure enough, they told me that I was too heavy to have the wind machine lift me off the ground.

That news really took the wind out of my sail. Funny, though – they could leave the wind in my sail as I am obviously in a committed relationship with gravity – so I’m not going anywhere.

All joking aside – this was pretty embarrassing. Being too fat for wind is a major bummer.

My relationship with food is pretty similar to my relationship with Christ. I have fantastic intentions – and terrible habits. I want to desperately to make good choices – and yet my lack of discipline and excuses keep me from getting to where I want to go.

Are you similar? I’m not asking if you’re chubby…instead, I’m asking if you have great intentions and terrible follow through with your Christian lifestyle. We make plans to worship regularly – to pray all the time – to serve – to honor – to obey – to trust…and I’m willing to bet that we all fall short.

When I actually get disciplined and focus on losing weight, EVERYTHING feels better. I sleep better. I have more energy. I look better. And I can skydive…!

And when we actually get disciplined on living a Christian life, things don’t necessarily get “better.” Sorry to burst your bubble, but following Christ does not make things easier. In fact, it makes things harder…much harder. But DANG, it’s worth it.

To be like Christ is to be different than this world.

From Matthew 6 – “Then Jesus said, whoever must be my disciple must deny themselves and pick up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life will find it.”

To deny one’s self is the most ironic and anti capitalistic practice I can think of. But Christ came to turn this world upside down – and in doing so, He has pure joy waiting for the ‘losers’ of this life.

So may your intentions align with your habits. May you live differently than the rest of the world. May you have the courage to do what you need to do in order to experience what God has waiting for you. And may you lose yourself to find who you belong to.