Parenthood gives us so many glimpses at the realities of how God views and wants to interact with us as His children. It’s just another grace of His and for me, it really makes the Bible come alive in unique and powerful ways. One such moment happened recently. My family and I were over at a friends house swimming. After a long time of playing we got out to have some lunch. When we were all finished and it was time to get back to the water we all waded it, that is, all but my oldest daughter. She walked around the pool’s edge rounding up toys to put in the pool before joining the rest of us. It was then that I had a fun idea.

My mind drifted back to times when I was little and I would leap from the pool’s edge into my dad’s arms. That’s how I learned to not be afraid. It wasn’t long before I would jump on my own. So I got my five year old daughter’s attention and said, “why don’t you jump from the edge and I’ll catch you?” Up to this point in the day she had mainly splashed around in the shallows with a floating vest on. Now I’m asking her to take a leap into the deep end. She paused and said, “no way daddy!” As most any father would, I encouraged her to face her fear and to give it a shot. Her hesitation turned to trepidation. It an attempt to calm her little heart I looked at her and said, “sweetheart, do you trust me?” Her eyes shifted from the water to me and she replied in a soft voice, “yes.” I smiled and told her, “that’s all you need. I know it’s a big jump and we’re in the deep end, but I’m in the deep end with you.” After a few more seconds of hesitation, my daughter inched to the side of the pool. Draping her toes over the edge, slowly bending her knees, legs shaking a bit, arms stretched out towards me, she jumped.

During a simple fun day at the pool, this moment probably did more for me than it did for her. I hope she gained confidence in overcoming something that was big and scary for her. But in that moment I felt the Holy Spirit teaching me like I was trying to teach my daughter. You see, what my daughter was asked to do is, in a way, a lot like scenarios that we find ourselves in with a fair amount of regularity. As followers of Jesus, we’re asked to take many leaps from the waters edge. Sure, it looks different in each of our lives but the idea behind it all is the same. A life of faith is a life lived by jumping in to the deep end when we can’t swim. But our faith tells us that our Heavenly Father is in the deep end with us, ready to catch us so we don’t seek to depths. We are all faced with the same choice that my daughter had, do I let me fear of the unknown and possible danger keep me from jumping, or do I listen to my Father’s voice and trust Him to catch me?