Chasing Lions on the Trampoline

My son made me smile in a big way the other night. My wife wasn't able to take the kids to their tumbling class, so I had to fill in. For the last five minutes the parents get to come in and watch. Everytime I take them to tumbling they are always very excited to show me what they can do. This week, my daughter went first and showed off some things she could do on the trampoline. When she was done, the teacher called my son over to the trampoline. Now my son has never liked trampolines. I've seen him stand at a distance and watch while all his friends from church have a blast on the trampoline. It's just one of those things he's very skittish about. I expected to see him go over to the teacher, shake his head, and refuse to jump on the trampoline. Imagine my surprise when he stepped on to the trampoline. Not only did he step on, but he jumped. He even did a bunch of special jumps the class had been working on. My smile was so wide my cheeks hurt. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

I just finished reading a wonderful book called "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson. It focuses a lot on facing our fears and that the greatest opportunities, and our greatest victories, often come about when we face our greatest struggles. It was a book I really needed to read as I'm in a time where my life seems to be filled with great victories one day, only to be followed by great struggles and fears the next. Seeing my son jumping on the trampoline, holding this book in my hand (I had been reading it in the lobby as I waited), I thought about how God must feel when he watches us face our fears. I felt this huge my smile on my face and all I wanted to do was run over, grab my son, and tell him what a great job he did. I imagine when fear comes at us, and we keep moving forward, God can't contain his smile either.