CAAAAANNNNONNNNNNN BAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

Everybody whose been within splash-radius of a swimming pool has been affected by a cannon ball.

Slippery feet running on wet cement to the official cannon ball battle cry – a haphazard slurring of syllables, as loud and as reckless as the skin-slapping, wave-making that follows.

CAAAAANNNNONNNNNNN BAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

It’s all about technique.

Timing the tucking in of arms and legs to create the perfectly perilous splash machine: a human cannon ball.

And finally, the satisfaction that, although you now have a wedgie and water up your nose, you were able to successfully get the attention of and soak everybody at the pool party.

Such a sweet victory in riding the waves you just made into the congregation of cheering kids and moms complaining about the towels you just soaked.

It's springtime in South Africa! The flowers are waking up, the sun is shining and the pool on the Ten Thousand Homes base where I live is finally at a tolerable temperature – at least for the kids.

Last Friday we had a pool full of kids:

2 Brazilians

2 Afrikaans-Texans

3 Sesotho-speaking South Africans

2 SiSwati-speaking South Africans

Our own little UN meeting – proving play to be the international language.

Our South African guests spoke no English, didn’t know how to swim and didn’t even have swim trunks.

No problem.

Before we knew it, pants were dropping and kids were flying.

And I was snapping pictures. Don’t judge me, Sister. It was awesome.

They hadn’t all mastered the art of assuming the perfect cannon ball position. But we watched with amazement as the experienced swimmers helped our new little fish go from being afraid to get their toes wet to creating arm-flailing splash machines. No common language or common life experience required. They all made a splash together by the end of the day.

Cannon balls.

We’re made for it.

Complete abandonment. Completely submerged.

It’s like that one time in the Jordan River when a guy named John completely submerged a guy named Jesus and everything changed. (Luke 3)

We’ve got it in us – whether we’re afraid to get our toes wet or we’ve been in the pool for so long that our toes are crinkled and pruney.

I watched the evidence in the perfect poolside picture of the Kingdom of God – the nations coming together and making a joyfui noise… with a resounding splash!

I moved to Africa.

I boxed things up. I gave things away. I said goodbyes to the people and the places that have defined and described the pool party of my life.

It made a splash. My family and I are still feeling the waves… and sometimes get motion-sickness from them. Even those most-important poolside people are still dealing with the wet towels and soggy sandwiches.

On some days, every part of me just wants to get out of the waves and put on a big fluffy pink bath robe… 

ok, maybe not the fluffy pink bath robe part.

We’re made to cannon ball. We’re called to cannon ball. It’s written all over the Book…

Hey Noah, build an ark in a desert and have a couples-only party for every animal species on earth…

CAAAAANNNNONNNNNNN BAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

Hey Moses, lead your people straight into the sea with an angry army chasing after them and nowhere else to turn.

CAAAAANNNNONNNNNNN BAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

Hey shepherd boy, take that slingshot and go slay a giant.

CAAAAANNNNONNNNNNN BAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

Hey Daniel, double-dog dare your insecure coworkers, who also happen to be the king’s right-hand men, to throw you into a lion’s den.

CAAAAANNNNONNNNNNN BAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

Hey Ezekiel, go hang out in a graveyard and try to wake up those dry bones.

CAAAAANNNNONNNNNNN BAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

  

And then there was that one time, when the Son of Man came and did that Jordan River cannon ball. Three years after that, he changed the history of cannon balls. His cannon ball came in the form of outstretched arms and legs with nails through them. A deal-sealer that turned the chlorine into Living Water and saved you a place in the Kingdom-sized pool instead of getting a sunburn on the sidelines.

A promise that there’s always enough water and that the deeper you go down, the more refreshed you’ll be. 

I promised God I would run and jump with both feet into His promises that wrap around his 3 ½-year old greatest artwork yet.

It’s been 8 weeks since I’ve heard that little voice.

And some days I feel like I’m drowning from the waves inside of me. On those days, I honestly would rather just sit in the kiddie pool.

There are hundreds of children at our feedings every week with hidden stories and with toes that have never felt the cool waters of the pool. They’ve never had a chance to cannon ball and need an invitation to the pool party.

Look around where you are. Those children are around you too – whether they’re wearing business suits, football pads or the latest and greatest fashion statements.

Now that we know what we know. And now that Jesus came, we can't and we won't stop cannon-balling.

My arms and legs are tucked in tight to all that I can hold onto: His ways are higher than mine, His thoughts are higher than mine. (Isa 55:9)  And He works for the good of those that love Him. (Romans 8:28)

I’ve got water up my nose and a wedgie.

Yeah, I just said that.

It’s not comfortable to keep on cannon-balling.

But we’ve got a job to do that John remembered during Jesus’ first cannon ball:

“Prepare the way for the Lord,

make straight paths for him.

Every valley shall be filled in,

Every mountain and hill made low.

The crooked roads shall become straight,

The rough ways smooth.

And all mankind will see God’s salvation”

(Luke 3:4b-6)

Please pray for me to understand how to patiently cannon ball… how to keep on running and screaming and persevering in the times where HE says, “Wait” and during the times where I just feel sick from the waves.

And please, please, please, make a splash today!