Diving in the Fjord

Diving in the Fjord

Our team had just arrived at the Nordtun YWAM Base and we were in high spirits. God had been doing a lot with our group and allowing us to be His hands and feet. We couldn’t wait to see what God would accomplish though us today.
We were quickly greeted by some hospitable “YWAMer’s”, and before long, we were eating bread, jam, nugatti, and goat cheese for a usual Norwegian lunch. While talking to some of the people there, we found out about a thing called the fjord. It is was an inlet from the Atlantic Ocean and was about 40 to 50 feet deep. It was about 40 degrees F, and the water was melted from a glacier. They told us that there was a dock that was somewhere between 10 to 13 feet above the water and that we should go with them to jump in it. This idea both made me nervous and excited me. I started thinking about how the water was going to feel. I imagined it like 1000 knives hitting my body at one time. Still, as scary as that sounded, I went.
By the time we had started walking, I had already shaken most of the nervous feeling away. As we approached the destination though, I began to become very anxious. I tried talking to people during the walk, but I still couldn’t shake the anxious feeling. By the time I got there I just wanted to do it quickly and get it over with. Finally, the time came to jump in.
I stepped up to the edge of the dock, and my anxious feeling began to grow. There was a four foot fence surrounding the dock. This meant I had to climb up onto the slippery wood in order to jump into the water. I began to reconsider taking the jump, as I stepped up onto the fence. So right there, in one moment, I took a leap of faith into the freezing cold fjord. As my body made impact with the icy cold water, I realized that I was jumping into salt water. This salty sensation added an unexpected twist to it, and made me more anxious to get to land. I swam as fast as I could to get to the shore, until I felt that smooth, rocky surface beneath my hands and feet. This was one of the most exhilarating moments in my entire life.
I ended up jumping in one more time before the day was out. Peer pressure is a strong force, you know. Afterwards we walked back to the house singing songs, yelling cadences, and praising the Lord. Still, as awesome as that was, it was only a taste of all the many terrifying, fun, saddening, and exciting experiences I and the team had in Norway.