PUDDLE JUMPING

What makes a kid want to jump into puddles?  Is it genuine inquiry?  Is it discovery?  Is it adventure?  Does he realize his shoes and feet will get wet?  Or doesn't that matter? 

Why don't adults jump into puddles?  Most of us will walk twice the distance  just to avoid the puddles! 

Are we afraid we'll get our shoes wet?  Or our feet?  Is that inconvenient?  Instead of fun?

What changes in us that makes us stop this type of behavior? 

Is there still a kid in you?  A desire for fun?  A yearning to explore?  A sense of wonder at a water fountain? 

When I was a kid on the Tri State Campground in East Liverpool, there were two things that made camp totally fascinating.

The first was the water fountain in front of the Oakland cottage on the top row.  If you held your finger on it, you could squirt water twenty feet!  It was a great way to surpise innocent passers-by!

The second was the daily arrival of the 'ice man'.  Oh boy!  He would drive his truck around the camp delivering ice to cottages with their sign hanging out.  When he had to chip the ice, it would create lots of refreshment for all the kids following him like he was the Pied Piper!

As soon as he would disappear into a cottage, we'd hop on the truck to grap ice chips!  Now that was the perfect recipe for fun because it also invovled risk! 

Maybe that's the secret.  Maybe as we grow older, we quit taking risks.  And without knowing it, we quit having fun. 

I'll be back. 

It rained last night.  I'm going out to look for some puddles!

A METAPHOR OF THE CHURCH'S BIGGEST PROBLEM

I was the pastoral leader of a small church in Jeannette, PA.  We lived in a 70' mobile home behind the church.  It was short on storage space.

The head trustee suggested that we build a storage shed to resolve our problems.  That fall, he and I worked together on this project.  I learned a lot working with Howard. 

When our "little barn" was all finished, we stepped back to admire our work.  My 1974 Mustang II was sitting right beside the new shed.  Our eyes went from the shed to the car.  Howard said, "Pastor, if we'd have built the shed two feet wider, it could have been a garage!"

Over and again through the years, I've struggled to help the church think ahead!  Our short-sightedness causes us to waste resources and miss opportunities. 

Someone has suggested that the Church tends to attract safe-minded, orderly, structure-loving people.  Creative thinkers and risk-takers are in the minority and get quickly frustrated with the resistance they encounter.  I think there's some truth to this postulation.

Radical, aggressive thinking is foreign to most church bodies. 

However, I think God is still looking for seas to part and temples to rebuild in three days!

ZIPPING

Would you like to fly through the air at thirty-five miles per hour at anywhere from thirty to one-hundred-fifty feet above ground?

If your answer is "Yes!" then try zipping! 

Debbie and I did it yesterday at Hawknest Mountain in North Carolina - and it was a wonderful two hours! 

The guides were very helpful and patient.  One was always ahead of you and the other sent you off.  Although you're operating far from the ground, you are always cabled to a secure spot.  Safety is highly prioritized!

Our group of ten really bonded and cheered one another on.  We had so much fun!  At the end, the guides told us that we were the best group they'd ever led! 

It was a bit of a rush the first time you lift your legs and start flying.  All you hear is the zipping noise made as you slide along the cable.  The views were outstanding from 5,000 feet high in the Smokies! 

If you ever get the chance, spend the money!  Our group included a woman celebrating her eighty-first birthday!  You can do this!