My Big Jump

I deliberately stepped out of a plane that was 11,000 feet in the air on Saturday afternoon. It took us half an hour to reach our altitude in a small plane that help four of us and a pilot. I looked out the window on the way up and enjoyed the beautiful view. It was a great day to go jumping, sunny and warm with just a few clouds in the sky. Oddly enough, I wasn't nervous on the way up.

We reached our altitude and I got turned around and hooked up to the Tandem Master, Tim, that I was jumping with. The door opened right beside me and I was still okay. I was given the word to get out, so I did. I placed my hands on either side of the door and stuck my right foot out the door. I placed my foot on the small platform (the platform wasn't a foot wide but maybe extended a foot from the plane) and swung my left leg out next and put it on the platform as well. I was then told to let go of the plane so I took my left hand away from the door and held onto the harness at my shoulders and then took my right hand away and held onto my harness. I tilted my head back, as we were instructed to do, and Tim and I rocked forward once, rocked back and then we were flying away from the plane.

We were moving through the sky incredibly fast, or so it seemed anyway, and that's when I realised that this was all very unnatural! I have never wanted to feel something under my feet so badly before in all my life! I would have been happy to be kneeling on my knees if it meant I could feel something solid under me! After only 4 seconds Tim tapped my hands to indicate that I should let go of the harness and create ninety degree angles with my arms in order to help stabilize our fall, I was all about being stabilised, but it was a little crazy letting go of the harness! After a little while longer, once we were more stable, he released the parachute which caused us to lurch a bit, then he disconnected two of the hooks that were holding our harnesses together! There were four hooks, don't worry, he undid the two in order that we would both be more comfortable.

After we were disconnected the rest of the way down was amazing. We were above the clouds when we started out and passed by them so close that if I had longer arms I would have been able to touch one or two. We were simply coasting along and enjoying the incredible view that was laid out before us. We could see so much and so far away! The different patches of colour from the various farmers crops looked like a quilt that had been planned just for our viewing pleasure, the homes nearby, the different towns, and we could even see Winnipeg off in the distance. We talked about the layout before us and I said over and over again just how awesome I thought God was, to which Tim just chuckled a little; I don't think he thought I was being serious, but I really was serious. We joked about landing in someones pool in their backyard, I love to swim so I didn't think it was that bad of an idea though with all of the gear I might not have thought it such a great idea once in the water!

As we got closer to landing we did a practice of what to do in order to land and then it was time to actually land. I tucked my legs up against me and had my feet out in front of me but we caught some wind which caused us to start tilting forward, meaning that my feet were going to hit the ground first which is what we didn't want to happen. The tips of my shoes brushed the ground which brought us down with me facing the ground and Tim on top of me! I thought it was kind of funny seeing as I didn't hurt myself at all and didn't end up doing a face plant into the ground! My knees hit the ground and my lower arms, but that's it... well, the pressure of Tim on my back pushed me down so that my stomach touched the ground too, but it didn't hurt or anything! Tim unhooked the harness and we both got up and laughed and made sure that the other was okay and then we hugged.

I thanked God for the safety and protection that He decided to bless Tim and I with and prayed for the continued safety of Jessica and Nicholas as they continued to descend after us. Jessica landed, safely, we both had huge grins on our faces and hugged. We were both happy to be alive and safe and to have experienced something so amazing. It truly was a blessing from God to have had that experience, both to have been able to pay for it as well as to have enjoyed it as much as we both did.

That is the tale of "My Big Jump!"