I know this may sound strange, but one of my favorite childhood memories happened after church let out.
The church we attended at that time was built in the late 1800s. In front of it was an old wooden hitching post that stood about a foot tall. People used to tie their horses to it before service. Best of all, that old post stood underneath a tree. I don’t remember what kind of tree it was, but it never grew to be very tall.
As soon as the preacher said “Amen” after his prayer for dismissal, my friends and I plowed through the front doors and raced down the steps to the wooden hitching post. We would take turns climbing onto the top of it and jumping off. We didn’t jump for the sake of jumping. That being said, I did enjoy the feeling of sailing through the air for those few seconds. You see, the tree had a low hanging branch just above and out from the post. When we launched ourselves off of it, we had our arms extended as we reached for the leaves that there were dangling just within our grasp. Some would even yell, “Geronimo!”
We would do that nonstop until our parents were ready to go home. Sometimes that could be up to thirty minutes if they were talking to other church members. You now, if given the chance, I think would’ve kept jumping until we dropped from exhaustion.
As I thought back to that time, I realized that nobody was ever badly injured. Sure, we scraped our knees from time to time, but we always popped back up and jumped to touch the leaves again. Of course, there people who try to get us to stop, but we never listened to them. Our parents didn’t mind and that was all that mattered to us.
“And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18: 3 (KJV)
As children, we never listened to those who tried to discourage us from jumping. Nor did we second guess ourselves or worry about getting hurt. We just did it. I believe that is the kind of faith The Lord wants to us to have. He doesn’t want us to worry, have doubts, question Him, or listen to those who may distract us from our purpose. And when He tells us to trust Him and take a leap of faith, we should just do it.
My mother also jumped off that old hitching post as a child, but unfortunately, my daughter Sara never had that chance. They built a new church when I was still in high school and tore the old one down. They also cut down the tree and got rid of the old post. The picture with the article is a painting of the old church on a saw blade. You can see the tree to the left of it, but the post was left out. That’s okay for I will always cherish the memory of standing on top of it and glancing down to my white Sunday go to meeting sandals and lacy anklets. Geronimo!
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Amor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.