"I have two. Can you go this afternoon?"  

 

“Name the place!” 

 

It took us about 90 minutes to get to the Monterey sand dunes. I’ll have to admit my mind was filled with images of sailing off some mountaintop, so the 20-foot sand dunes were a gentle, but welcome letdown. 

 

While Ed got busy putting the kite together, my attention was drawn to a small group of co-adventurers who were already set to fly. One guy in particular was interesting. After he strapped into the harness he downed a can of beer and took off down the hill. When he got to top speed (remember, this is running in sand) he jumped forward hoping to make the kite lift him up, but when he jumped forward the kite dipped and he hit the sand face first. His head was completely buried in the sand. 

 

He got up; cursing the kite, the sand, and anything else he could think of.  He proceeded to make the short hike up the hill, drink another beer and try again. Same result. Three times he tried to fly and three times he buried his head in the sand. 

 

Ed watched the last attempt and whispered, "The kite’s ready. That guy doesn’t have a clue; don’t do anything he did." 

 

“Easier said then done,” I replied. The image of that head buried in the sand was a stuck on replay. 

 

On the way up the hill Ed said nothing. At the top, he gave me these instructions: "Relax and run. When you reach the right speed I will yell; that’s when you push this bar forward just a little, about three inches or so, and the kite will do everything. Just trust the kite. Ready?"

  

I took off, trusting Ed’s words. I wasn’t too sure of the kite. But when he yelled, I did as I was told and WOW. The kite headed up, I mean really up. Before I knew what was happening I was 100 ft above the sand. The kite was doing just what it was supposed to do. However, I suddenly realized a missing ingredient in this adventure. We never talked about how to get down! At the top of my voice, I yelled, "How do I get down?"  

 

Below me, the gathered crowd yelled, "Stay up, stay up!"  

 

Ed shouted, "Move you hands an inch to the right." 

 

So, I moved my hands, which shifted my weight, and I began a slow spiral down. When I was safely on the sand, the crowd applauded and I stood there in silence. They thought it was about me; it was really about the kite. 

 

We are all characters, kite-fliers, in God's never-ending story. Behind every gust of wind, is the breath of the Creator. So, I choose to applaud Him, I love the way he continues to write surprise and adventure into life. He does it just for us, because nothing surprises Him. He never says, "WOW!" But we do!

 

I was totally unaware, but on Saturday, January 19th 2002 the Spirit of God was hovering over my heart and holding my breath in his hands. At 7:38 in the morning it felt like an elephant on my chest, but by that evening I had experienced three heart events and CODED three times.

 

My family was told, "If he makes it through the night, he might pull through. He's on the edge," 

 

At 11 am on Sunday morning I woke up, with a 12" pipe stuck down my throat,  an endless number of wires connected somehow to my body, and a hovering hospital staff. I am totally thankful for those gifted people, but I am most grateful for the hovering Spirit who never left.

 

Once the vent tube was removed and the events of the last 24-hours were explained to me, I was speechless. I laid in the hospital bed counting breaths and celebrating life. During those first few days, on more than one occasion I awoke in the middle of the night feeling like I was floating somewhere between the chaos and an epiphany.  

 

In the darkness of that room, I heard the call. "You're not done yet. I'm just getting you ready for what I've been preparing. You will love it."

 

Before my heart events, my dreams were too small, my box to puny, my vision to human.

 

The Faith Coaching Network, Faith Notes, FaithFeatures, i2eye, coaching, celebrating the fingerprints of God, telling the stories of contemporary God sightings, are all born out of that Spirit hovering experience.  

 

Confirmation? Four years after the by-pass surgery, I went in for my annual heart check and the doc wrote… "something EXTRAORDINARY here. Four years ago patient’s lower right quadrant functioned at 37%. Now it's at 47%."

 

Extraordinary?

 

It's God’s healing. He is rewiring my heart and rewriting my life. Oh, and the Spirit is still hovering.