Great Polar Challenge
I recently was sent a great polar challenge by one our school students via Face Book! Some of you may not be familiar with this. The challenge is to jump into a pool or lake while the water is cold. I declined the challenge!
However I just filmed my youngest son David and Loren his girlfriend doing this. It reminded me of a time a few years back. Our friend Pastor Mojica was visiting from the Philippines, and my oldest son Dewayne was visiting as well.
Dewayne is 6’2’’ and David is 6’4,” both are great swimmers, Dewayne expert per U.S. Marines and David is a Red Cross certified lifeguard. Pastor Mojica is 5’4” and is not a great swimmer.
They were talking on a cold day about jumping in the pool. Someone issued the challenge and the next thing you know, they are standing at the diving board. I did not believe any of them would follow through, however David ran and did a high spring and dive right into the icy water. When he hit the water he was already half way across the pool. Next up was Dewayne. His dive was just like David’s and after it they both stood at the end of the pool wrapped in towels, shivering and waiting for Pastor Mojica.
I thought surely he would not do this. When I preached at a camp in the mountains of Philippines the temp dropped to 60 degrees. The Filipino people were not accustomed to that and so they were wearing winter coats, sock caps and they were still freezing. So I figured that this would be the death of Pastor Mojica if he tried this.
He did not dive into the cold water, no instead he ran off the end of the diving board right into the frigid pool. He was almost the Second Man to ever walk on water.
Why did I decline? My heart doctor has given me the same diagnosis for the past two years at each visit. He is from India and he always says, “Preacher, you gonna die!” You take care of everyone else but not yourself.
At my last visit he surprised me and for the first time he did not say this. After my examination he said, you are doing very good! Wow was I surprised and I was just about to pet myself on the back when he continued his statement. He said, “You are doing very good at staying FAT! As a matter of fact you are doing better than anyone else that I know doing this.
Back to the challenge, I do not want to die with a heart attack when taking a crazy challenge. In Ecclesiastes 3, the Bible says there is a time for everything and it list several things. I’ve read it time and again and nowhere does it say, “A time to act crazy and jump in cold water and die.” I’m not taking the Plunge, how about you?