calledisrael

a friend of mine is moving to central asia, and she wanted to go and ride roller coasters before she left. a few of us planned the day, and realized that week that six flags had already closed for the season. we had all been in missionary training together, and heard all these talks on kicking your fear in the face and pressing in to what you are afriad of to be an overcomer. i had suggested then (jokingly) that we try skydiving. when roller coasters (which i hate, btw) didn't work out, they wanted something "even more exciting" - i brought it up again, and they agreed with much hesitation. four of us went out to do tandems. everyone else was an adrenaline type, liked it. i was the one who had been too scared and almost backed out once i had the harness on - i just wasn't going to let them be cooler than me and go without me. i had a kick-ass tandem instructor who showed me why he loved it. dreamed about jumping for the next two weeks afterward. and since then i have not been able to stop. got three books, an altimeter, and more funding for aff from the family for christmas. so i also hold them accountable for how i got into skydiving. they keep telling me that they would rather me be here and skydive than move overseas. little do they know that the two are not mutually exclusive. :) life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. (helen keller)

my pastor preached about skydiving a few weeks ago and showed her tandem video. she has a whole bunch of people stirred up about how *christian* it is to be radical and fearless... i can send you the mp3 link if you want :) life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. (helen keller)

this thread is very interesting to me. so, here i am, as young and as new as they get. i have done my requisite three tandems in the past two weeks, and every time i pull up, i wonder why i am bothering to drive so far and spend so much money to do this. and then we "ride the hill" as one of my TI's called it... and i remember. i hope to do ground school this week so i can start my aff sequence. i have dreams about jumping ever since the first time.. so what would you tell a young student? what do you wish that someone told you before you started? i see lots of things that have made people quit. i want to be in long term, and i know it is the desire that counts. i was the one who was too scared to jump, and it was partly because my super great tandem instructor wanted me to love it and made that effort for me that i had such a good experience. i want being a student to be that good. life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. (helen keller)

i just did my first jump yesterday. i didn't sleep before it, and i sure didn't sleep after it. what a beautiful thing. who can try this and not love it?

I am sure not experienced at skydiving, but this place is great. I went up with three friends to take our first ever tandem. Two of us were really nervous, but the instructors were great, very flexible and patient. Great facilities, beautiful weather, fun people to be around. the goofing around in the plane was hilarious. I never felt unsafe - we just had a really great experience. It's great to try something as new and as out there as skydiving is with people who you know love it and want you to love it too. Watching how excited everyone was when we landed and came in and went ahead and bought tickets to jump again... you know that's when you are dealing with people who are doing the right thing. thanks, guys. I sure do love it.