The days were filled with preaching, building, and
sleeping. Connecting through the love of God was easy when communicating
with the people of the Dominican. After spending days working and spreading
the gospel, the missionary group decided to have some fun. The leaders
announced that the group would be going to Catalina Island to go cliff
jumping.

“Cliff jumping?” Cheyenne thought to herself, “That sounds way too scary.”

Everyone started jumping up and down in excitement; what a great
opportunity it was. Although Cheyenne knew it was a once in a lifetime
opportunity, she didn’t know if she wanted to conquer her fear of heights
quite yet.

The next day everyone loaded the buses and they were off to the waterfalls.
It was about a two hour drive from where the group was staying. As they got
closer, Cheyenne’s heart started racing and palms got sweaty. As soon as
they pulled into the parking lot, everyone started jumping up out of their
seat. They all piled off and made their way towards the entrance, Cheyenne
lingered behind, stalling as much as possible, but soon enough she was in
the middle of the group with with her lifejacket and water shoes on.

“Listen up, stay with someone while we hike up there. Drink plenty of water
and keep a decent pace” the guide instructed.

Cheyenne was relieved that they didn’t have to get right into throwing
themselves off of cliffs right away. They had to hike several miles to
reach the first waterfall. While on the way up, Cheyenne decided to stay
back with the slower group. As the leader said that they were getting
closer, she started to get scared again. After a couple hours of sweating
and blistering feet, she saw the first waterfall. It looked like most of
the group was already in line to jump off. It was probably only five feet
off the water.

“I can do this, I can do this.” she whispered.

“Are you okay?” someone asked from behind her. She turned around and saw it
was one of the team leaders, Mrs. Ballard.

“Yeah, I’m just freaking out a little because I’m scared of heights.”

“You’ll be alright, most of the waterfalls are only this high, some are
even more like slides than actual cliffs.”

Cheyenne was so relieved to hear that. Suddenly it was her turn to jump.
She waited a little and everybody started cheering her on. She jumped. She
popped up out of the water and waded to the next one, following the line.
The next waterfalls were not cliffs, they were the waterfalls that had
slides. Cheyenne enjoyed the slides, but soon enough they were at the top
of another cliff. Cheyenne was not ready. The next one was probably ten
feet tall. As she approached the edge the instructor told her to jump in a
certain spot or she could get hurt. She started to cry.

“Cheyenne, I’m right behind you. You can do it, just count to three,”
encouraged Mrs. and Mr. Ballard again.

Cheyenne knew that she had to do this. Everyone else had jumped already and
were encouraging her from below. She gathered up the courage and jumped
right into the safe spot in the water.

Cheyenne decided to stick with Mrs. and Mr. Ballard the rest of the way
because somehow they gave her that little bit of courage she needed. She
and the Ballard’s talked about anything and everything through the course
of waterfalls, yet in the back of her mind all Cheyenne could think of was
the very last waterfall which was around 27 feet tall. She enjoyed the
small jumps and slides while they lasted.

Her most dreaded moment arrived; they were at the last waterfall. Now this
one was different, Cheyenne could opt out of it if she wanted to. In fact,
there were several girls that took that path. Cheyenne knew she didn’t want
to opt out, she wanted to conquer the fear. She didn’t come this far for
nothing. She watched person after person jump off. Some of them jumped off
the second the instructor told them to, others waited and waited
until they were confident in themselves.

“What should I do?” Cheyenne turned to the Ballards.

“You just have to jump off, don’t wait. count to three at most and then
jump. You have come this far. We are right behind you and God is with you”
they replied.

Cheyenne turned around and there were only two more people in front of her.
She said a quick prayer and asked the Lord to give her the courage. She
walked up to the edge.

“You must jump right in between these rocks, right in the middle” the guide
directed.

The guide kept talking about how to jump and place your body, but Cheyenne
was only scared that she would miss the spot.

“K, you are ready to go, anytime you want.”

Cheyenne snapped out of her daze and glanced down at everyone else who had
jumped. They looked like little dolls. She counted to three and took a
step, but she backed up. She did this three more times. Cheyenne suddenly
remembered a bible verse she had found earlier that week. Joshua 1:9 “Have
I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be
discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

“God is with me, Do not be afraid, God is with me, Do not be afraid,”she
repeated.

“CHEYENNE! CHEYENNE! CHEYENNE!” the people below shouted.

“We know you can do this, just jump” the Ballard’s said.

One… two… three… she jumped.

SMACK! She hit the water and floated back up. She walked towards the group
and received high-fives and pats on the back. Mrs. and Mr. Ballard came
down and congratulated her and she thanked them for sticking by her side.

On the way back she reflected on her journey. Sometimes we are this way
with God. We are scared of the jump. We get so wrapped up in the fear of
the situation, we don’t realize other people are there for us and so is
God. You have to call on him and just jump.