Tori got to have an adventure this past weeekend. There is a local ministry in San Salvador that has a beautiful piece of property outside of the city. They are working to develop it into their new ministry site piece by piece. In the meantime, it is a wonderfully wooded area complete with horses, playground equipment, and some other fun stuff including a zip-line.

We were invited out to the property with some friends this past Saturday and our kids were able to troop around the place with their buddies. They loved running free of the concrete walls and barbed wire that surround every play space they are accustomed to. 

They had a chance to ride the horses but claimed the horses were “too tall” for them.  So you can imagine my utter surprise when Tori asked Jon to take her on the zip-line.  I was not a big fan of this because it’s a little contrary to maternal instinct to see your child hanging by a wire suspended hundreds of feet above the ground.

But Jon was up for it and so off they went in their tandem harnesses. Tori laughed with delight the whole time, a huge grin spread across her face. No tears, no terror, just sheer enjoyment of the whole experience. Afterward, I asked her “Tori were you scared?” Her response revealed true childlike faith, “No Mommy, I wasn’t scared because I knew nothing could happen to me while Daddy was holding me.” It didn’t matter that she was quickly zipping along on a cable, or that only wires held her to the line so high in the air. Looking down at the ground and the tree-tops and the distance was not an issue for her.

Because she was with her Daddy.

In my life, I lack childlike faith. I have the faith of an adult, a skeptic, and a cynic. As I am zipping through my own life I find that  the wind flying past me, the ground below me, and the skinny cables suspending me all catch my attention. I become overwhelmed with doubt, worry, and even fear. Working in San Salvador,  I often doubt myself. I fear when we are in dangerous places, and I worry that I am making mistakes. It’s like I forget altogether that my Daddy, my God, is with me. I’m not alone. Thank you Tori for this reminder.

So maybe the next time I find myself hanging by a wire, I can lean back, enjoy the ride, and maybe even laugh a little.