Just jump . . . I got your back!

I know, I know, it’s poor grammar. And it follows a rather in-depth discussion I had with Todd about why grammar is important and how I want our children to hear English spoken correctly and speak it well themselves. I mean, since I’ve never even attempted to give them the gift of multilingualism, I should at least do my best to make sure they actually know the one language we do speak.

So if you must, go ahead and retitle this post: Just jump . . . I have your back!

I’m getting down off my soapbox now and hoping that sentence was grammatically correct. I’ve been known to make a few embarrassing mistakes. Which is perhaps one reason I’ve been paralyzed lately—trying to plan everything out in my life. Trying to work out a schedule that would accommodate everything I “need” to do. And discovering it just doesn’t work that way. A schedule helps—or at least a general routine does as long as I’m flexible about it. But rules were made to be broken, right? (I think this applies to the grammar issue, too.)

As I was looking through the photos on my camera, I felt like God provided me with the perfect illustration of my next step. In so many ways, I’ve been standing on a ledge, trying to figure out how exactly I’m going to handle things before I actually do them.

The morning of the day this photo was taken, I was explaining to Todd how I just don’t know how to fit everything in anymore. I had a great routine that gave me enough time every week to devote to writing. And now, how on earth do I fit marketing and publicity for my book into this time? Especially when it could potentially require endless hours. I mean, really, when are you “done”?

“Okay, well, I finished marketing my book.”

That’s just not a sentence I’m ever going to say.

And then, later that day, I stood on this ledge and I tried to think exactly how to go about this zip line thing. I know you can tell the ledge is about three feet off the ground. I mean, I have been skydiving before, so it’s not that I was afraid for my life. But I still had some butterflies in my stomach because, I mean, they say this is strong enough to hold 250 pounds, but there’s always someone at the party who ruins the game. What if I forget to let go and I hit the tree? Oh, no! I’m wearing a dress, too! But sooner or later, no matter how much you think it will make you look like a fool, you just have to step off the ledge . . .

And hang on for dear life . . .

So, yes, it’s a good idea to think things through and have a plan. But I can’t plan everything. Sometimes I just have to start doing stuff and pray for the best. And trust that the right things will come my way.

Sometimes God says to me, “Just go ahead and jump already! I got your back!”