When I was young my mum took me to a swimming pool. In one of the deep pools, there was a high diving board. I looked at it and in typical Shannon fashion I immediately walked towards it and started climbing up the rungs in the ladder. Higher and higher I climbed and then I stood at the top. I slowly walked out to the edge and stood as the board swayed in the wind, bouncing back and forth by the weight of my 11 year old body. I froze. I hadn’t realised how high it really was. I didn’t realise how far I had to fall. I slowly backed up and holding on so tightly to the railing, I tried to turn around and go down the stairs. A boy was half way up the ladder and was very upset with me for making him go down again. I didn’t care. There was no way I was taking that leap. The rest of the day I watched the big boys jump off the high dive while I swam in the water. I thought I was brave. I wasn’t brave enough that day.
Being brave is hard.
3 years ago I went on a trip to Thailand. We went snorkelling through coral, diving off the sides of boats, kayaking through low tide swamps, quad biking and white water rafting. I saw tourist sitting back, staying in the boats, sitting by the shore. I saw them missing out on all the fun. This time I was the brave one.
Being brave is fun.
Through a series of events I know that my next daring feat is making a move to London. It’s been in the pipeline for a while. Spurred on by the right conversations with the right people, the community that is gathering at Kingdomcity London, unquestionable support from family and friends and now the loss of my safety net (I lost my job on Thursday), I am applying for my visa in a few weeks time. I hope to be in London in under 3 months.
I feel again like that little girl standing on top of that high dive tower. This time however, there is no going back. I have to make the jump.
Because I want you to witness the miracle in motion happening in my life right now I have to tell you exactly where I’m at. I don’t as yet have enough money to apply for my visa. I need to apply before the first of April or pay an additional £1000 pounds. Gulp.
I have so much faith that this will come to pass. God has me, I know it. I just don’t know how or when it will all come together.
If you want to be a part of my miracle there are some things you can do.
- Pray for me. Pray in particular that I will find enough casual work once my job finishes next week. Pray that my visa goes in smoothly and pray that I find a job before I leave.
- Buy a cake or cupcakes off me. If you have a party in April or May and would like a cake then let’s chat.
- Hire me to babysit on weekends. I’m a professional kid wrangler. Seriously, they don’t get any better. If you don’t have kids I’m happy to be hired to baby sit you. Dinner with hidden veggies, bed time stores and rocking to sleep? Sure!
- My friend put together a go fund me page http://gf.me/u/ha5wbx if you feel lead to bless my trip financially.
- If you see me, give me a hug and tell me that when I make the leap, I will fly.
