Have you ever thought that you had a guardian angel?  If so, maybe you came to think about that angel, or perhaps a stroke of great good luck sent your way, when you have narrowly missed having an accident.  Or perhaps it was something not as dramatic as a near-accident; maybe it was something simpler, such as running late for a very important appointment and suddenly finding that “magic” parking spot opening up right in front of you.  In your mind, you may have said a word of thanks to the being watching over you.

 

Suppose it wasn’t an actual being at all?  And suppose it was not a stroke of luck, but your own sixth sense, your own intuition guiding you away from harm or opening a door for you onto a wonderful new journey?  If you have ever followed your instincts, even under circumstances that may have appeared inopportune, you have taken a leap of faith.

 

My own first such leap occurred when I left my parents’ home to strike out on my own.  Behind me, I left my comfortable life; in fact, the only life I had ever known growing up in a home with my parents and sisters in a small town that was itself my second home.  I had not planned to do this, but the opportunity presented itself and so, I took that leap of faith.  It happened like this.

 

One year, when my sister came home on military leave, she invited our youngest sister to come to her place for a short summer visit before that little sister set off for college.  As that same little sister had a summer job, she could not take our other sister up on the invitation.  When I’d asked my sister who was in the armed forces if I could come instead, she said yes at once, and that is how I wound up leaving our small community for a bigger city.  Although I was quite nervous at first about venturing out into this unknown section of the world, the thought of my sister in the military gave me courage.  There she was, beginning to travel and see the world, and there I was, never having taken a step beyond my comfort zone.

 

Within a few days of determining to go to the big city, I gave notice at my job and packed up my most important possessions.  The items that were not essential went into storage, so that my brother would be free to use my old room. My dad was a bit surprised by this; he had assumed that I would contract a bout of homesickness and return fairly quickly.  But I was determined.  Packing up my non-essentials to put into storage was, in and of itself, a leap of faith: I was confident that I would not be returning home anytime soon.  And so, I said my goodbyes and off I went with my sister, the soldier.

 

As we were leaving Illinois to head toward Virginia, she made that leg of the trip into an adventure for us.  Instead of heading straight to our destination, we took a detour through Kentucky, where my dad had spent his childhood and where we had once lived as small children.  But once that great little adventure was over and we “landed,” reality set in.  I would have to find a job and adjust to a new way of life in unfamiliar surroundings.  I must have driven my poor sister crazy at times, especially when I started dating.   She did, however, enjoy one perk with me as her roommate, since I enjoyed cooking and she was not fond of spending time in the kitchen.  I often wonder if she’d had any regrets, but we weathered our period of adjustment.  I stayed with her for nearly three years until I took my second leap of faith, the one that would impact me for the rest of my life.

 

One of my co-workers had introduced me to a nice young man, interestingly enough (as you will soon see), on Valentine’s Day!  The calendar date was February 14th.  We then went out again the following week.  After dating a few more times, he proposed to me the following month.  In April of that same year, we were married.  Talk about a whirlwind romance!  Truth to tell, when he had proposed, I did not give it much thought. I just spoke from the heart when I said, “Yes!”  Trust me, I wasn’t blinded by the diamond in the ring he’d bought, because it was not that big.  Nineteen years after I took that huge leap of faith, my husband and I are still happily married!

 

So, if your gut or her heart tells you, “This is what you want” and your mind is not quite made up, or maybe you are afraid of making the wrong choice, you have to forget all of your doubts.  You just have to leap and hope that your landing is a soft one.