Perfect Conditions

I was asking myself about discomfort after reading my 2021 blog about being comfortable in the uncomfortable.

The big challenge then was standing on a paddle board. Suffice it to say that most of summer 2022 out on the water, I did not stand but sit –in the padded, fold-down stadium seat that Rick McGuivered for my comfort.

According to my then head self, to stand for any length of time, perfect conditions were required: ‘When the water is totally calm, clear, no icky stuff floating around.’

This 2023 summer, conditions were as perfect as they would ever be. New head self says: “If you’re going to stand, Now is the time!”

(Added fear-reducing bonus: the water in the picture was less than a foot deep.)

Didn’t give myself time to talk myself out of it. Didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

So first time out this summer, I stood. It was exhilarating.

Now standing is the norm rather than the exception (unless it’s super windy going upriver, in which your body becomes a sail.)

Funny, I did fall once. The rudder stuck at a shallow point, putting on a sudden brake and shoomp, I fell backwards on the board. Thank goodness my life preserver preserved my backside. Who would have thought you’d fall because the water was so shallow?

In our life journey, God increases our challenges to move us into greater opportunities to glorify Him and serve in His kingdom with our unique gifts. Perfect conditions rarely exist and He does not require us to be perfect. Following Jesus requires a willing, surrendered heart and be all in.

Sometimes it’s a matter of “Just stand up.”

xoxo
Nancy

Psalm 121: 3b, 5-6, 8
“He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber…The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night… The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even everlasting.”