Free Fallin'

We sang that song as we headed to the adventure camp this afternoon. It’s true…I faced one of my biggest fears today (heights, right up there next to snakes) and took the leap off a 44 meter platform that hung out over the Nile River. I learned that 44 meters is approximately 144 feet…let’s just say it’s WAY up there. I was the third of eight of us that jumped today. Happily, I was the first Reynolds’ (them there is braggin' rights folks!) The first person went, did a great swan dive off the platform, and about halfway down started screaming, but she was smiling when she was finished. Not a bad start. The second person went (I won’t name names, but she’s related to me), she jumped without hesitation, but began screaming and kept screaming until she was safely in the boat. That was a hard act to follow…I was scared to death. They sat me in a chair that looked like an electric chair, I felt like a prisoner going to the guillotine…and then I sat there as they wrapped a towel around my ankles, so that the rope they tied around my ankles wouldn’t give me a rope burn (thank you very much!). I watched earnestly to make sure that a true slip knot was tied on my ankles. Then I had to waddle over to the side, hang out on a ledge over the Nile, with nothing to hang onto but the ceiling of the overhang, take a deep breath and plunge.

I had already decided that I was going to look down as I jumped. So I got to the edge, looked down, and said to myself “there is NO WAY I am going to do this, I don’t care what anyone thinks of me, I’m walking back down.” Thankfully, that thought only lasted a second, but I ditched my plan to look down as I jumped, and instead looked at the roof of a nearby restaurant, took a deep breath, embraced my fear, celebrated my courage, and took the jump. The first second of a free fall is mind-boggling, literally, it was so difficult for my brain to get around the fact that I had just launched myself off a really tall place and was hurtling down towards the water, but immediately after that second, the next feeling is your stomach falling, which is a feeling I just LOVE. I have seriously said many times that I wish I could have one of those amusement park drop rides in my backyard. I love the feeling of dropping, when my stomach is in my throat. That was it…I hit the bottom, sprung up, flipped around, and dropped again in another exhilarating fall. I started whooping it up, it was so fun. No screaming for me, I was laughing my head off! When I finally was pulled into the boat, the African men told me I had a very strong heart…I was grateful for the comment. Let me tell you a little secret about myself…there are a lot of things that scare me.

I don’t know where I heard it, but one of my life mantra’s is that courage is not the absence of fear (thank God because then I would be the lion in the Wizard of Oz constantly searching for my courageous heart), but rather, courage is doing that which you are afraid of anyway. I remind myself of that often, and as I battled in my heart and brain about whether or not I would jump, it was a bigger battle for me than just a bungee jump; it was a battle for my courage. Thankfully, courage won the day, and the reward goes beyond the one minute of hanging over the Nile River with butterflies in my stomach. The reward is knowing that I can still face at least some of my fears, and overcome them. Hayden was next, and he did a perfect swan dive off the platform, without a moment of hesitation, and made a beautiful landing. Tim and Chase decided to get dunked in the Nile during their jump, and that added even more excitement. Westin, Bransen and another friend Carly decided to zip line over the Nile River. That too was exhilarating and fun. Overall, it was just a great, great experience and I have no regrets…

In addition to the excitement of the afternoon, we had the privilege of holding a dedication service for the house that Neighborhood Church worked on this week. Neighborhood Church decided to build this house in honor of the first person from Modesto killed in the Iraq War, as a way to honor his name, Corporal Michael D. Anderson, and the contribution that he made to our country, and in particular, to honor his love and dedication to children. As I watched about 50 adorable school children singing and dancing, as I listened to different Ugandans share their vision for the children of this beautiful country, there was such love and hope and joy…I thought that any parent would feel this is a very fitting and meaningful tribute to a wonderful son. The Anderson House was commissioned today to provide stability, hope and a future to orphaned children in Uganda for generations to come!

Tomorrow we head out for a weeklong trip. Hopefully, I will be able to get online occasionally. But until we talk again…

Ciao,
Cheri