Up, Up and Away
From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint. PSALM 61:2
Ever since Larry Walters was a kid, he had a dream. It was not a strange dream to a young boy letting his imagination run wild, but it certainly seemed strange when, as a 33-year-old man, he actually took a shot at it.
His dream reached fulfillment one morning when he strapped an aluminum folding chair to 45 weather balloons he had inflated the night before.
With a half dozen friends helping him stay tethered, he donned a parachute and strapped himself in for what he hoped would be a short ride.
Just him, his lawn chair and a clear blue sky. That was his dream.
As soon as his friends let go of their safety lines, however, the main tether securing his chair to the ground snapped. Minutes later, Larry and his floating chair had zoomed to 16,000 feet above sea level! The Los Angeles International airport tower started getting calls from jet pilots saying they had spotted a flying lawn chair!
Have you ever felt that way? One minute you are bobbing along, pretty sure you can handle all your various responsibilities and any possible contingencies.
But suddenly, without warning, surprise interruptions and your fragmented schedule jerk you off the ground, sending you to great heights of stress and desperation.
Larry's story had a happy ending. Taking out his air pistol, he shot out several of the weather balloons in an attempt to get his out-of-control lawn chair headed back toward Earth. As he neared the ground, his ropes tangled in a power line and he ended up dangling only five feet off the earth.
Perhaps his actions provide one solution for us as we contemplate our busy schedules. What activities can we eliminate? What can we say no to?
DISCUSS
Are you in this kind of pressure pattern right now? What can you eliminate from your jam-packed schedule in the short term? Long term?
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