1- I was going to be a mess worrying about and missing my little buddy, so this was to help distract me.

2- I am terrified of heights. There is a small ropes course near our home, and I really wanted to try it when the crowds would be minimal so I wouldn’t feel rushed and anxious.

My husband took that day off. My son got on his school bus. I let myself have a good cry and off we went to this little mini adventure ropes course up in the trees. I was still anxious. But it was just my husband and I together on this course and I knew that I could take my time. It was perfect.

Seriously, it is a tiny course. It isn’t as high up as other courses I have seen. But, to me, this was huge. I was pushing myself out of my comfort zone to do something that I always wanted to do. I learned some interesting things that day.

If you have never done an aerial ropes course in the trees before, I’ll do my best to explain how it works. There is a sort of obstacle course made up with sturdy ropes, trees or big posts, wooden platforms, sometimes there are tires, teeter-toter like things, floating platforms, etc. The entire time you are connected by a rope to a secure line above that goes with you throughout the course. It will keep your entire weight if you feel as if the course is too difficult and you can just swing yourself past the obstacles.

Or you can do what I did my first time and not place any faith in that secure line from above and cling with all of your strength to every single obstacle along the way. I don’t recommend this. I was sore for days after having my muscles clenched so tight for this adventure in the trees.

At the end of the obstacle course, you get to ride the zipline back to where you started from. At the end is a worker waiting to catch you. At first, I panicked about having to be caught at the end. Exactly how fast would I be going?

Well, I would be going exactly as fast as I needed to enjoy the ride along the way and to be caught smoothly when I came to the end. It was great. When I was done my legs were trembling and I realized that I wasn’t done.

The particular course we did is so small that they have a two for the price of one deal. So, we got to do the course twice. The second time, I realized that I needed to have more faith in my rope and the secure line above me. I didn’t cling quite so much to the obstacles as I realized how secure this line actually was. I flew through the obstacles more quickly the second time. I enjoyed myself more the second time.

Last year, I took my children to this small course. I went first so that they could see me model trusting in the rope and secure the line from above. After the kids got to have their opportunity to go, I would meet them at the end with a hug, fist bump or high five back at the beginning of the course.

They loved it! I had kids that had absolutely no fear and zipped through it as fast as possible. I had a kiddo that just stopped and cried in the middle of the course and needed to be rescued by a worker.

And my little one. Man, she is awesome. We made sure that the workers were comfortable with helping to accommodate her through the course. She had no fear, she knew that she only had to hold on to her rope that connected her to the secure line above and all would be fine. Her smile was so big that day. I’ll never forget it.

Okay, are you ready for me to make the spiritual connections from this fun outing? The obstacle course represents this life on earth. It is full of easy obstacles and hard obstacles. Some of these obstacles don’t feel difficult to us and some make us come to a complete stop. Fear can get in the way of us being able to use our faith in the secure line from above.

The rope that connects us to the secure line from above is Jesus. The secure line from above is Heavenly Father. For they are one in purpose. They work together to bring us home safely. Do you see how they are always with us?

The workers at the park are angels on earth and angels from above. They help us along the path. For my little one, they took her along the path of the obstacle course the entire time. I believe this to be true in her life as well.

My first time around the obstacle course, I did not have enough faith in my rope and the secure line from above because I let my fear be bigger than my faith. The second time around, I realized that if I had more faith in these things (Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ), I would be able to enjoy the journey more than my first attempt.

At the end of this life, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will welcome us back home. They will embrace us, and we will be so glad that we did this journey even though it was hard to do. I look forward to this joyous reunion.

I titled this post: Do It, Feel It, Live It! I want you to Do something that you are scared of but have really wanted to try. I want you to figure out how to Feel connected to Him while you do this thing. Figure out how this thing brings you closer to God. There is always a connection. Then once, you made that connection, go about your life doing it over and over. Live your life with Him in mind.

Don’t cling to the ropes with all your strength. He has you. Literally. Have joy in the journey. Trust Him. When you are stuck, He has angels to help you along the way. Look to them. Accept the help they offer. Make your faith stronger than your fear. It will take great effort. I know. I have lived this. He loves great effort. He rewards great effort. I promise you this.