Leap of Faith

By Tad Story

  A few short weeks ago I had the opportunity and honor of skydiving with some of my closest friends. It was everything you could imagine. It was scary. It was exhilarating. It was horrifying. It was sickening. It was fun. It was like I said, everything you could imagine. I could not thank my friends and family enough for supporting me in my silly idea of jumping out of a plane at 13,000 feet, and free falling to 5,000 feet before the parachute opens. People that’s 8,500 feet in 53 seconds. WOW!!!!!!

Two years ago it was one of my dreams to jump out of an airplane. March 16, 2013 it became a reality. Every person I know who is alive today has dreams. Dreams of becoming rich. Dreams of becoming famous. Dreams of living a life without worries. These dreams are what keeps us as humanity moving forward. These dreams are what we live for. These dreams give us all hope for a better tomorrow. But all too often we let these dreams slip through our fingers with no particular reason. Sometimes it might be work. Sometimes it could be differences of opinions with a spouse or a friend. Sometimes is could be that we just lose sight of our dreams because life deals us a joker and we were expecting an ace. What ever the reasons are I don’t know. I do know one thing for sure, we aren’t fulfilling our dreams. And it’s down right disturbing.
Two years ago I had dreams. I had dreams of becoming rich. I had dreams of becoming well known. I had dreams of playing catch with my son. I had dreams of hiking the trail from Three Forks to Diamond Rock. I had dreams of a better tomorrow for my family and I had HUGE dreams. I had no idea that I was being dealt the joker. Or so I thought it was a joker, I’ll explain later. You see, I was diagnosed with ALS, more commonly known as Lou  Gehrig’s Disease. This disease has no known cause and more importantly no known treatment. It is 100% fatal, typically within 3-5 years of diagnosis. In August I will start year three in my plight with ALS. As of today, my symptoms are increasing. My balance is shot, I can’t get around without assistance. I have a walker (George), a scooter (Walt) and my son’s shoulders (Jonah) as a means of transportation. Without them I cannot walk. My left hand is losing its functionality, my right hand is not too far behind. My speech is starting to slur. The total strength in my body is deteriorating and I will eventually not be able to move my body myself. There are only two bright spots to having ALS. One is that it does not affect the brain, in as, my mind is sound, I can still think normally (I think???). And two, I’ll explain later.
ALS is, in my eyes, the most evil disease known to man, and yes, I’m selfish in this statement. It slowly and steadily takes over my body with no sign of any hope of getting better. I will speak for myself, I have some really good days and I have some really not so good days. The good out-number the bad by a large margin, Thank God!!!!!!!
Acquiring this disease was initially, and okay still is, the most devastating event that has happened in my life. I still feel the blow. I’ve taken this situation, this dealt joker, so to speak as a blessing though. You might question, How??? Well….. Roughly 10-12 months before I was diagnosed, I gave my life to Christ. I was on fire for those first 10-12 months. Anything and everything you could throw at me I was taking in. I was a sponge and Christ was a vessel in transforming my being into a True Believer. My family life was the best it had ever been. The love I was feeling was like none before. I had the feeling of security. I was on top of the world. I was finally fulfilling my dream of a better tomorrow for myself and my family. I was becoming a man of God. My dreams were starting to come true. Then, August 10th, 2011 came along. I was told that I was officially diagnosed with ALS. We knew in late April early May that this was a probable diagnosis, but our previous doctor would not out right tell us that I had it.
You see on August 10, 2011 I had a visitor. Not in the sense of a flesh and blood man, but one of the spirit. I was sitting at a red light on Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale, AZ having just heard the news from my new doctor with The Mayo Clinic. A sensation I cannot explain came over me and He told me that everything was going to be okay. He said that the doctors do not have authority over your life, “I do” and it’s going to be okay. My pre-Christian life kicked in and I thought to myself, what the hell just happened.? I was bawling looking up to the sky at a red light. What was I doing? As the light turned green I continued to drive and right then and  there I realized what had just happened. Christ was in me!!!!! Amen. I felt safe. I felt secure.
Fast-forward to today. Had I not been the Christian I am today, I truly believe that I would not be here writing this. I would have either taken my own life, spare everyone the pain. Or I would be holed up somewhere alone without my family and extremely scared and sauced/drugged up. Instead I’m here writing this, basically having the time of my life. I am making some of the most precious memories for my kids. Don’t get me wrong, it is heart-wrenching to not be able to play catch with Jonah or walk around with Hannah on her school field trip. But I’m with them everyday. I take them to school, I pick them up from school. I am actually getting to watch them grow up. To me that is a blessing. As a family, we are dedicating ourselves to making memories. If one of us wants to do something and we all agree it sounds like fun. We do it. The sky is the limit, Literally!!!!! So as you can see, this is in and of itself a blessing, my second bright spot to having ALS.
Family and friends are important. I see it as my duty (a calling) to help my family and friends live life to the fullest. Don’t be afraid to live out your dreams. Step out of your comfort zone and do things you might regularly not do. What’s the worst thing that could happen? You might actually enjoy yourself. You just might rekindle that long lost dream you lost sight of because of that infamous “joker” you were dealt. Which brings me back to March 16, 2013, Skydive Arizona. I have a friend who said he would jump out of a plane to support me. I knew he was deathly afraid to do it. He asked if he could just ride up in the plane watch us jump and ride back down. He was trying to come up with any excuse not to do. In the end, again he said he would do it to support me. I knew he was terrified I could see it in his eyes. However he followed through with his word and jumped with us. To his surprise he enjoyed himself and I bet he will do it again.
Having this disease has taught me and my family, the importance of life. We only have one to live. Live it the best way you can. Follow your dreams. Make memories. Have faith in God. Daily we pray for a “Miracle”. We pray that this disease would be rid of my body.
Back to the red light visitor, He told me that everything was going to be okay, I took that for everything it’s worth. Maybe He meant that I would be healed, but I also have to interpret that maybe He meant that as a true believer in Christ to put my life in His protecting hands. To me and my family it is a win/win. I declare my trust in Him. This is my jump of Faith.