"Back" at the Ranch: a tale of pain and double blobbing...

Photos of the infamous blob.....

My back....4 hours post injury.  It got worse....then better....

This past Monday, Sarah Francis and I got off work "early" and had an entire glorious hour to go play at the lake.  We did the "screamer," a double zip line that sends you from the treetops straight into freezing cold water (and pulls off your swim trunks if you aren't careful as one man after us found out!).  It was exhilarating.  We loved it!  And then we got daring (and peer pressured) and decided to try the "blob."

This summer, as those of you faithful readers are well aware, has been one where I have constantly been challenged to get out of my comfort zone.  I've lived in a tiny space with lots of girls, I've cliff jumped, I've done a disproportionate ratio of manual labor versus the worship leading/ "reason I'm here."  (If you're lost, read the "Security Blanket" entry.) That being said, I'm WAY too cautious to attempt the blob had I been in my own mind.  However...under the influence of those around me, I was easily swayed.  Especially when someone played the "Bible card" and proclaimed that "the Lord says to be 'strong and courageous.'"  Right. 

My final words before climbing on that floating pillow of death were "I'm not so sure about this...I'm not very 'gymnastical!'"  A few seconds later My body was hurtling through the air ninety to nothin' like I'd been shot out of a cannon (propelled by the toned physiques of Ronnie Freeman and Tyler Kempf...whose collective body weight is 3 times mine).  My "not so gymnastical" body executed one beautiful front tuck with ease and precision.  Then I looked down, saw the 10 foot platform that my blobbers had jumped off of zooming past me, freaked out, opened up to try to "gain control" of my soaring figure, and hit the water.  On my back.

I remember coming to the surface and being unable to breathe.  I felt as if someone had thrust a large blunt object into my chest and out my back.  My lower back felt as if someone was holding a thousand hot curling irons on it.  I realized that I looked as bad as I felt when I saw the lifeguard jump in with her float.  Still stubborn despite the imobilzing pain,  I managed to doggie paddle to shore , stumbled up the ladder, and stood, unable to stand, but equally unable to sit down....and forget breathing.  That just wasn't an option.  

My back has turned all shades of black, red, purple and now (Friday afternoon) yellow ("Your back looks jaundiced!" proclaimed my sweet friend Julie Anne....).  

At first I was frustrated because I felt that the Lord had used this experience as an object lesson of something that I was afraid of, and then I stepped out in courage and did it anyway, and I got hurt.  I didn't understand why I had been hurt, when then the Lord impressed on my heart that just because He calls us to obedience doesn't mean that He promises to protect us from everything that might hurt.  Almost all of His disciples became martyrs for the faith.  Paul was imprisoned.  Peter was crucified upside down.  Daniel was thrown in the Lion's Den.  Joseph was kidnapped, sold into slavery, framed, thrown in prison.  He just asks us to follow and trust that whatever we have to endure is still minor compared to the glory of living with Him eternally.  

Wen He calls us to obedience even if we are called out of our comfort zone to do something we are afraid of, and even if it might hurt or not seem like a "good thing".  We still are called to obey and to trust in Him no matter how painful the outcome.  And then the healing that occurs afterwards is beautiful.  He allows us to cling to Him as he restores us and makes us whole again.  

While unfortunately MY blobbing experience wasn't caught on tape, I swiped this video from the video guys at camp for your viewing pleasure.  This is what happened to me....except minus the second and third flip, and add a big back flop at the end.....