My Paisley Chair

Have you ever flown a kite so high that you could barely see it? The wind has to be perfect, and you need plenty of open sky. Not only that, but you are also going to need a tail on that thing, because without a tail, it will wobble and dive. I have A LOT of experience with wobble and dive.

One of my favorite memories is when our kite flew almost out of sight. It was a perfect day at the beach. The wind was blowing just hard enough, and we launched our kite with no obstacles to get tangled up in. All in all, perfect conditions for kite success! This was the moment to capture, and we were all in! Never before – never again.

Before we knew it the kite was so high that the tail was out of reach! Within minutes we discovered we were at the end of our string and the kite still wanted to go higher. We scrambled and borrowed rolls of string from friends. Not just one roll but several rolls of string were let out! We had NEVER seen a kite fly so high! Had it not been for our friends letting us “borrow” their string, we would have been done.

Who Knew?

Did you know when the kite tail gets out of reach you can tie a stabilizer on the string? Professional “kite pilots” have strips of fabric at the ready to tie systematically and in perfect intervals to stabilize kite flight. (Or so I’m told.) We hadn’t needed this information before because we’d never experienced this level of success with our kite!

As our kite soared higher and higher we needed things to tie on to our string. The sunburned beach friends who had gathered to watch went searching for anything that could be tied to the string! No color coordinated strips of fabric here, just stuff.

Beach debris of all sorts was collected. Empty cans, sticks, snack wrappers and even a diaper were found and tied to the string as stabilizers. The last piece of debris that was reluctantly and gleefully tied to the string was a pair of underwear that had been abandoned on the beach. So, up the sting it went!

The laughter as that pair of underwear flew high into the sky made for an incredible memory. Not just our friends, but strangers up and down the beach joined in the celebration of extraordinary kite flight! Everyone took a turn holding tightly to the string. As the last roll of string came to the end, we could do nothing else but let the wind carry it on.

I’ll never understand wind currents, but our little kite with the image of an action hero on it, caught the updraft and soared beyond all of our wildest imaginations.

Never Before – Never Again!

At the end of our perfect day, our little hero of a kite captured the attention of many on the beach. It became not much more than a speck in the sky. Across the beach road from us condos were under construction and a construction crane set perched atop the tall building. Though we could barely see the kite whose string had gotten tangled up on the crane, we could definitely see the pair of underwear fluttering in the wind.

What a day, with a memory to last a lifetime! Memories shared with family, friends and new beach buddies are PRICELESS!

Questions I ask myself:

• How do I respond when life soars high, far beyond my expectations? Am I ready for the adventure, or afraid?
• Can I capture the moment and enjoy success?
• Who is around me and what resources are at my fingertips that will make the journey fun?

Prayer:

Lord help me step into opportunities that will take me further than I thought possible, leaving fear behind and enjoying the adventure of serving You. I want to live the abundant life You promised, knowing that I was created to bring You pleasure. As I partner with those You have placed around me, let Your face shine upon us!

What does the Bible say? (scripture references)

Esther 4:14 “And who know whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

John 3:8 ” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Acts 17:28 “In Him we live and move and have our being.”

Until next time…

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