BUNGY JUMPING?!?

GUESS WHAT???!!!!
YES, YOU GUESSED IT, YOU NOW HAVE A BUNGY JUMPER IN YOUR ACQUAINTANCE!

WHOAH....... IT WAS CRAZY.

So, I'm in Queenstown, NZ - famous for crazy things... and Mark asked me a bit ago if I was
going to bungy jump. "No. Of course not. Too much $, I don't want to."
Really, I was scared. 




But, I changed my mind. 

I'm only in QTwn once, and might as well, huh?


But more than that, it was a huge faith-parallel for me.

We're up on that ledge w/ Jesus, and it looks REALLY SCARY. and no one with a sane mind would ever leap out, head-first, over the bridge... esp not with rubber bands attached to their ankles...
Really that's all it was... 2,000 skinny/tiny/little rubber bands, bunched together in about a 1 1/2 inch diameter rope!

Trusting my life with that? (Parallel: trusting my life with a God I can't see?)

Well, this morning, I woke up with the thought, "I'm going to bungy jump." No, I'm not! 
The next thought I had was Psalm 46. I looked it up and read, ""God is our REFUGE and our STRENGTH, an EVER_PRESENT HELP in TROUBLE. THEREFORE we will NOT FEAR, though the EARTH GIVE WAY [when i fall] and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea [as i'm falling]... God is WITHIN HER, she will NOT FALL; GOD WILL HELP HER at break of day . . . The LORD ALMIGHTY is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress." 

That's what I needed to hear. but you still never really know if you're going to die or not until after it's over, do you?

I registered, gave them my credit card... and my stomach went UGHHH. I'm in. I kept imagining me up at the top of a really high ledge, overlooking a river below, knowing I had to jump . . . falling, falling, falling . . .

Well, that's what happened. Fast forward a few hours, and I was on a bus riding to the bridge with about 5 other jittery people, trying not to be jittery... 2 other girls, and 3 guys. One guy had just done the highest jump yesterday from a cable 160 meters out over the middle of a canyon... what's that, about 500 feet? (8.5 seconds free fall). I was happy to be doing my 43 meter bridge.

We got there, and it didn't seem too bad... kind of high, but not ridiculous. Beautiful blue-green water running beneath, golden trees up the canyon walls, really pretty. I just kept walking forward, trying not to think about what I was about going to do. I registered, signed my life away, got weighed (so they could be well-informed about the amount of rubberbands I would need) then walked out on the bridge. A couple went before me, and I did not watch... my stomach was going... then the guy called me down next...

I sat down, and he put a thick towel around my ankles (which I learned to be thankful for later). He wrapped a strap around my ankles - seemed pretty secure, but I was not thinking too much about it. I just couldn't believe what I was actually about to do next. I told him that I had read Ps 46 that morning and he asked what it said... so i told him, and just saying the words gave me STRENGTH, and helped calm my belly.

Then he had me stand up, and shuffle forward (remember my ankles are strapped together), while he kept his arm around my shoulder... and I kept mine around his! We edged out onto the edge of a little plank - like for a pirates ship, but CRAZILY MUCH HIGHER! THE RIVER WAS A LONG WAY DOWN... whoah.


I just wanted to jump then... but he paused for a moment, said, wave to the people! Ok... I looked over and saw a bunch of people watching me, enjoying my torment! Then he said to wave at the camera - Hi! i was really going crazy in my stomach... Ok, now look out to the bridge out ahead (there was another one in the distance), and you're going to jump on 5... 5 (I can't believe he's counting) 4 (Am I really going to jump?) 3 (O my gosh!) 2 (eeeek.) 1 (hands up, brief decision, step forward, and just JUMP.........................................................................................................................................)

O MY GOSH!!! O MY GOSH!!! O MY GOSH!!!!!!

I kept falling and falling and falling and falling and falling (my eyes stayed open - I saw my fall - I couldn't believe i was really doing it! The Beautiful Blue water rushing up at me... and I was STILL FALLING.... finally i felt the cord tighten and pull me back upwards... YES!! [total fall time was maybe 4-5 sec - but that is REALLY LONG when you are FALLING.)


I'm still alive.... and we (Jesus and me) bounced quite a bit more - up and down, up and down - actually quite high, so falling high again! Then finally came to a rest...

whoah. whoah WHOAH.

2 guys in a yellow boat came out to get me - they held out a pole to me, I had to grab on, and they pulled me down into the boat... took my ankle straps off, and then I had to take off the harness around my waist... (like a climber's harness)... my legs were shaky.
All of me was shaky. Whoa.

THANK YOU JESUS.
We made it!

Now I'm back in Queenstown, ready for a RELAXING evening... and then will travel to Milford and Doubtful fjords tomorrow - supposed to be BEAUTIFUL and look like Norway.

I got a ride with 2 great Christian girls - one from Sydney and one from London - awesome conversations and prayer time.
God really amazes me.

Love and blessings to you guys. Thanks for praying for me. Keep it up!

Ericka :)