Quantum Leap: A Monstrous Jump

A few years ago I was a chef at a Young Life Camp in Georgia called SharpTop Cove. I LOVED my time there. During the summer I had the opportunity to lead a group of college volunteers called Summer Staff. I had three sessions of Summer Staff that summer with four Summer Staff per session serving up to four weeks on the PM shift in the kitchen with me. They were amazing! One day before campers arrived, I took my first session to do a camper activity that they had talked about wanting to try. It's called the Quantum Leap. The Quantum Leap is essentially a telephone pole with steaks coming off the sides. The goal in the Quantum Leap is to climb this pole all the way to the top, stand on the top of the pole, then jump and hit this bell that's hanging in the air above your head. Needless to say, it's not an easy task. It was a great bonding time for my Summer Staff. They talked about it for days afterwards.

I thought about what Quantum Leap really meant and how that could apply to our relationships with the Lord and more specifically how could I use that theme to go deeper into the word with these four college kids in a month so that they could walk away from STC with a better understanding of Christ. So, naturally, I looked up Quantum Leap in the dictionary - which I'm convinced had been sitting in our office since the old Baptist camp owned the property in like the '70's. Here's what it said:

Quantum Leap (Noun):

               An abrupt change, sudden increase, or dramatic advance. A monstrous jump.

Once you get to the top of the Quantum Leap poll, the only way to get down is to take a monstrous jump off the poll, make an abrupt change in direction, and to make a sudden increase in trust in the person on the ground belaying you. And once the hard part of climbing that pole is done and you finally jump, it's a completely freeing experience as you are just sailing through the air completely effortlessly, free falling (or being belayed) to the ground!


But you must take that Quantum Leap, that monstrous jump before you can feel the freedom of flying through the air. And I am embarking upon my own kind of monstrous jump. 

Shedding the weight that I've carried for years has been something I've wanted to do, but I've never made that serious monstrous jump. Until Friday. On Friday I went down to a place called Tidewater Bariatrics for an orientation and a look into their programs. The program is kinda intense, but I'm up for this big jump and to make some big changes. So I've met with their nurse and doctor and tomorrow evening I begin my first formal meeting. I'll start the actual healthy eating and working out on Friday then after that my weekly weigh-ins will be on Tuesdays. I'm real excited about this Quantum Leap, this journey.

I'm not telling a ton of people right now. Not because I don't want people to know, but because I kinda want people to notice on their own. I think it will be fun that way. So I'm not going to be posting this blog on my facebook or twitter nor will I be posting pictures on facebook or twitter until this process is all done. 

I will, however, post pictures and updates here. So check here often. My first picture will be posted Friday on Day 1 and then every Tuesday after that following each weigh-in. 

One final thing, I'm about five pounds away from what I was at my heaviest and I so desperately don't want to go back there. At this point, I'm about 85 pounds away from where I eventually want to be - which is a bit embarrassing to admit, but I say this in an effort to be more real. So please feel free to leave encouraging words here on this blog because, let's be honest, I'm gonna need it!

Thanks dear family and friends for loving, encouraging, supporting, and praying for me in this Quantum Leap journey! Love you all!

All in.