The Swing Set of Life

Do you remember playing on the swings as a child, pumping your legs back and forth trying to touch the clouds with your feet? I don’t know about you, but when I was a child, I loved swinging on the swings. Heck, I still love the swings! There is that one moment, when you feel like you could leap off the swings and fly, but it was hard to work up the courage to jump. Of course, as soon as you jumped off, gravity brought you back down and you landed firmly on the ground.

Now, this isn’t just about remembering a favorite pastime. I believe my experience on the playground is a lot like my experiences today. That swing represents life. Once we get going and start swinging, it’s comfortable. There are ups and downs, little thrills and moments where you feel like you are flying, and other moments when you feel like your stomach will come out your feet. After a while though, your mom calls you to come inside and wash up or you are ready to move onto the next fun activity. At that point, you have to jump off and make the transition from the comfortable world of thrills and flying, into something new and maybe unfamiliar. In life, we hit those moments often.  There are times when we’re called by God to move on to something new and unfamiliar. This call requires us to leave the comfortable routine that we have become used to. At first, taking that leap of faith to follow the call might seem intimidating, small worries flood the mind and before you jump you hesitate. Some people would choose to wait and slow the swing down before getting off, but in real life we don’t always have that luxury. Life decisions require nimble decisiveness, the ability to make good quality decisions in a timely manner. The good news is that in real life, when we jump off the swing, if we have made a solid decision, we tend to land on our feet, recover from the shock and run off to our next adventure.

At this point in my life, I’m on the swing, all comfortable and settled, but God is calling me to move on take a leap of faith. Every time the swing is ready for me to jump and it seems that I’ve made the decision to take the jump, I hesitate. I’m waiting for some confirmation, some divine sign that it will all work out and I will thrive in this new place. So in keeping with the theme … Do I jump or do I keep swinging? It will take some more time, but I’m almost ready to jump, hoping that with God’s grace I will land firmly on my feet.