Ancient Greece and the Cliff of Getting There.

"True love is found by jumping off a cliff.

Faith and love are bound together inseparably. If you don't truly believe, you can't truly love. If you don't love, you cannot truly believe. Each is required for the other.

When you step off the cliff, you learn very quickly to love the one who catches you." - Ted Dekker

This quote is from one of my favorite fiction authors. Usually, I don't linger over fiction. It is purely something I read when I want to turn my mind off and lose the stress of reality in someone else's reality - in Dekker's case, I silently thank the Lord that I'm not the one running from the Syrian Republican Guard through the desert of Ethiopia (as the book A Man Called Blessed tells the tale of).

Why did this quote make me linger? I made myself think it over. All this talk of cliffs and jumping and it being a positive experience is extremely foreign to me. I would never jump off a cliff, no matter what was at the bottom. No way, no how. My one feat of bravery was jumping 5 feet into the water from a boat in the Mediterranean when I was in North Cyprus last summer. A cliff? I don't know about all that.

Figuratively, it's a relatively common concept in Christian speak. A "leap of faith" is the term often used. Jumping off a cliff would constitute as a leap of faith, I imagine. But a lot of times those phrases get lost on church folk as they continue to sit in church. Sitting in church does not require leaping...or faith, really.

Perhaps this imagery will make more sense when I explain the leap I am about to take. I have been presented with an opportunity to do my internship in Athens, Greece, this summer. Say what?! I'm serious. THE Athens - Acropolis, Athena, sight of the first ever Olympic games in the 4th century BC - I can't even imagine a place being as old as B.C.! It's a fantastic opportunity working with a fantastic organization that has a heart for meeting people where they are and loving them as Christ would.

At first, I tentatively filled out the application after meeting with the reps from the organization. I figured if the Lord had something else for me, He would close the doors. Well, He didn't. I finally spent a moment with Him, talking it through, and He confirmed for me that He wants me there this summer! Now, I move forward confidently....kind of.

I'm confident this is the journey the Lord wants me to pursue. But, here's the other thing. I'm going to quit my (decently-paying) job to do this unpaid internship. Sound ridiculous? I know. Rationale: work won't give me an entire summer off, no matter how much paid vacation time I have.

I don't have another job in mind. I know plenty of college students who would kill to just get hired anywhere, and here I am, willingly quitting? Not only do I sound ridiculous, but I sound completely ungrateful. Here's the thing, though.

I told the Lord I would love to jump off a cliff, as long as I know He will catch me. I told Him I would love to take a chance on His provision alone and not have a stable paycheck to rely on. Not only that, but I'm trusting  Him to help me raise the incredible amount of money it will take to get me to Greece and live there for 2 months. And I'm trusting that He will provide me with some kind of job when I get back.

I'm jumping. I know how it looks to others, I know it can't quite be explained. The only way it makes sense is that I know the Savior who will catch me - and I wholeheartedly trust Him with my life.

So I'm doing it...stepping off a cliff. Come June, I'll be writing to you from Athens.