After a week at the beach, we are back in Wallace.  Our California offspring are here for one more week before they have to return to the dull and boring life of southern California.  Sure, they have beautiful beaches and superb mountain trails, Hollywood and stuff like that, but they do not have the “Redneck Riviera” we have in Wallace!

Maybe you don’t recognize the name of the lake/campground/fishing hole you drive by as you pass the Wallace exit off of I-40.  I don’t know that anyone else calls Lake Leamon the “Redneck Riviera” except for our family but we use the term in the most positive manner possible.

Lake Leamon is a great place for swimming, for kayaking and for testing your nerves.  You see there is a platform at the edge of the lake that rises 15 feet above the water.  The water is deep and clear and begs you to jump.  From the shore the jump looks like a piece of cake.  It is another matter altogether when you are standing on the edge of the platform contemplating what the water is going to feel like when you hit it.

Most of the members of my family have stood on the top of that platform and have taken the leap.  Some stood there for the better part of the afternoon before jumping.  Others walked up the ladder, then down, then back up again multiple times before finally soaring through the air.

Taking a “leap of faith” spiritually can be quite intimidating as well.  Jesus encountered a young man who faced a similar dilemma.  He knew he needed something more in his life than his wealth and status and possessions.  But when challenged by Jesus to let go of all things he had accumulated, he couldn’t take the leap.  He had climbed too many ladders and worked too hard to reach his place of prominence.  He stood on the edge of eternal life but settled for the empty existence he had cobbled together.  The Bible is clear, “He went away sad.” (Matthew 19:16-20)

I stood on the edge of accepting Christ for years before finally making that decision.  I knew I wanted to become a Christian and I knew it was the right thing to do but I couldn’t make the move from my head to my feet.

Then I took that leap of faith and I never regretted it for a minute!

Dr. Jim Baldwin