PAPA : Jump, Crash & PURGE

Moment of Crash

     I figuratively stand on a walking bridge. With adrenaline flowing and sweaty palms, I apprehensively approach the "Moment of Jump!"... to the waters below... It is the moment where I choose to take a leap of faith and, for a Nano-second, suspend into space. Gravity immediately hijacks any control and pulls me down, down, down. With eyes clamped shut, I take a breath and brace for the chilling water's "Moment of Crash."

     The relationship of my limbs and body is critical. Correct arm positioning eases entry during the penetrating, enduring "Moment of Crash" into the lake. It is like cracking into very thin ice. This out-of-my-comfort zone paradigm-shift and perspective-altering event need not be painfully body-slapping. After all, I am not a masochist. It is a rewarding free-fall that includes close relationships, and it impacts us all.

     My response to Larry Crabb's Step #3 PURGE is like this jump-&-crash experience. It is scary, yet refreshing and exhilarating. Crashing through denial and justification to view my relational sins is down-right unnatural. To acknowledge that fear causes me to hide and protect myself. It helps to release an invigorating people-purpose realm that is still uncertain how I should properly navigate.

     This past 2-month series of blogs I have shared my reactions to the first three PAPA steps... to hopefully enhance and tickle taste buds. Crabb explains The PAPA Prayer format in much better detail than I. After all, he created it. In the next blog, I plan to briefly overview the four steps and address The PAPA Prayer's final step, APPROACH. (Please refer to "Warnings & Alerts" at the very bottom of this blog).

     ... B-fore I B-fire, I B-peace... embracing God's "Hiding Place"  ...in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength... Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! (Isaiah 30:15&18)

Warnings & Alerts: First, address Step #1 PRESENT & Step #2 ATTEND. Humble prayer posture and eye closure may be beneficial for Step #3 PURGE. Moments of Jump & Crash need not create inordinate slaps of guilt. Normal symptoms may include increased heart-rate, heart-felt emotions, and possibly stinging embarrassment. Persist and hold steady, for the yin-like moments are therapeutic & will be outweighed by yang. Enduring change of perspective and paradigm shifts are the PURGE goals, as well as God's forgiveness. The patient test of time will hopefully ring true in our cherished relationships, and especially with our relational Savior God (John 3:16).