A Leap of Faith

As I stood on that platform and looked over the towering treetops of the 1800 foot long Zipline Trek Nui Loa on Kauai, the leaps of faith I had taken in my life flashed through my mind:

• running away from home one Sunday afternoon when I was 5 years old, dressed as a nun walking to The Chapel of Our Lady of Good Help (now a national shrine) to join the sisters
• returning 8 years later to live and attend high school there when it had become the Pre-Novitiate of the Sisters of St. Francis
• joining the Community of Franciscan Sisters at their Motherhouse in Bay Settlement after graduation
• deciding to leave the convent six years later and make a new start with a summer job, an apartment and a teaching postion in Green Bay
• recovering from the death of my infant daughter, Sarah, due to anencephaly
• finding salvation and hope again after my husband's tragic death
• surviving 6 years of being a widow with two little children
• venturing out alone for the first time one night, and meeting Roger, the love of my life, at the Top Shelf

And then I looked over at Roger, he gave me a nod from the tandem zipline, and we took the leap together! Soaring over the jungle treetops it was absolute exhilaration! Spectacular sights in flight for more than a quarter of a mile gave me the ultimate rush!

Nui Loa means "big," "long" and "a lot." It was all these things as I zipped above lush valleys and repelled slowly over tumbling waterfalls. A thrilling experience indeed!!