Daddy's Adventure

I don't know how many things I did right as a dad. I know the best thing I did was marry well. But one thing I am glad I did was what we always called "Daddy's Adventures". I wanted my kids to see life as something to dive into fully. I didn't want them to be afraid. Fear makes us miss out on too much. So, from the time they could walk and even a little before I would take them on Daddy's Adventures. We have hiked in blizzards, walked the beach during thunderstorms, walked across fallen trees a ten feet above a river bed, and jumped off of cliffs into lakes in a dozen different states. The Coffey cliff jumping record stands at 60 feet. We always jump in order of age. That means my youngest jumps last. It is awesome. This summer my son Jeremy was on his way from Atlanta to a wedding in North Carolina. He realized he was ahead of schedule and saw a mountain just off the highway. He pulled over, locked the car and began running up the mountain. He texted me to let me know he went on an adventure. Half way up the mountain he said he thought to himself, "This is (I thought he would say that he thought this was crazy or silly but what he wrote next made me laugh out loud) AWESOME"! He told me he got to the top in about a half an hour and had a beautiful view and then ran back down and got in his car and finished the trip. I loved it. My daughter Rachel is coming in tonight to run the Cleveland marathon on Sunday. It will be her first. That is her adventure. My youngest, the one who always had to jump last off the cliff, is heading to Malawi, Africa this summer for a month to work at an orphanage. That kind of adventure is my favorite of all. I always wanted my kids to make the connection. Actually it is a transfer. The adventure Becca is going on is an adventure with God. As their earthly father I wanted them to get used to what it felt like to live life trusting themselves to someone bigger and hopefully a little smarter. That would be me. I wanted them to taste what life felt like when they were on the edge and trusting someone else. I wanted them to feel the rush of doing things not many people would ever do. But the reason was always so they would end up connecting the dots and live their lives like that with their heavenly Father. Someone asked me today if I worry about Becca going to Africa. I just smile and say "not really." But inside I am much more excited than afraid. I have watched her from the water while she decided to jump off a cliff to join me in the lake. When she jumped my heart would swell and when her head would finally pop up on the surface we would laugh and hug and wait for her eyes to quit dilating and her heart to slow up again. That is the daughter I prepared for God the Father. Now he is the one who will wait in the water and he is the one she must look at when she is scared at the top of the cliff. She is ready. He is faithful. And I am smiling. This is the Daddy's Adventure I always wanted her to have.