As You Learn To Fly

By Michael James Sanders

These stories will inspire you to follow God’s voice relentlessly, embrace a life full of adventure, find and fight for a cause bigger than yourself, and see more clearly the beauty that surrounds you everyday. "This life is a gift and every day is a chance to write something beautiful."

As You Learn To Fly is a collection of stories from my five-year-long journey traveling around the world and serving the poorest of the poor. I’ve been on an adventure exploring countries all over the world, but my greatest explorations have been those into the heart of God. My greatest discoveries have been not of land and culture, but of love and revelation. As I drew closer to God throughout my adventures, the fullness of His love was revealed to me both in brilliant mountaintop moments and through desolate valley lows. "His voice will launch you forward into an adventure beyond all you could ask or even imagine."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael James Sanders
• Release date: May 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311797223

Book preview

As You Learn to Fly

Soul Inspiring Stories About God, Risk & Adventure

By

Michael James Sanders

SMASHWORDS EDITION

*******

Published by

Michael James Sanders at Smashwords

As You Learn To Fly

Copyright 2014 Michael James Sanders

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Contents

Introduction

Life is Beautiful - Chapter 1

Adventures Ahead - Chapter 2

Overcoming Fear of the Unknown - Chapter 3

Foolish Enough to Say YES! - Chapter 4

Just Show Up - Chapter 5

Living Beyond Yourself - 6

More Than A Prayer - 7

No Time to Waste - 8

As You Learn to Fly - Chapter 9

Introduction

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, my English teacher pulled me aside. She grabbed hold of my shoulders to make sure she had my attention, looked me straight in the eyes and said, Michael, you’re wasting your potential. You should be going to Northwestern for writing, but you’re just screwing around. Few people had ever spoken to me that directly, and I was taken back by the concern in her voice. To tell the truth, I had no idea what she was talking about. I was well aware that I screwed around a lot in high school, but completely unaware that I had any talent as a writer. Apparently she saw a seed of something beautiful and was afraid it would never come into fruition. Mrs. Grandone, if you’re reading this, I never made it to Northwestern, but I am attempting to put some of this so-called talent to use. Writing is a part of my life, though I would say my skills are still underdeveloped and much of my potential untapped. Still, I have lived somewhat of a radical life since high school, and I am ready to share the stories from my adventures.

I struggled to think of some great theme, or profound statement to center this book around. I thought of a million different strategies of how to write this book for it to leave the greatest impact possible. I came to the end of myself, which is a good thing, because that is usually the exact place where I find Jesus. The journey I’ve been on the last few years was free from structure and full of spontaneity, so it seems silly to try and communicate the stories within some perfectly packaged structure or theme. My life over the last few years has been like a feather in the wind of God. As you read, try to follow the feather as it flies.

I have found, God will bring me to the edge of a cliff, ask me to jump, and trust that He will teach me to fly on the way down. This book is about my journey of learning to fly through the wind of God. I wrote the book over the course of six months, picking up the pen anytime inspiration was in the air.

What is true in life will be true with these stories: What you put into it is what you’ll get out of it. If you allow them to, these stories could encourage you to pursue greater intimacy with the Living God. If you allow them, these stories could challenge you to begin giving more of your time and resources to the poorest of the poor. If you allow them, these stories could inspire you to embrace the beauty of each day. Or, this could be just another book that you breeze through. Take your time with each chapter, and ask God to be present with you as you read.

In reading this book, my hope is that you would make a decision to create more space in your life for exploration. I’ve been on a journey exploring countries all over the world, but my greatest explorations have been those into the heart of God. My greatest discoveries have been not of land and culture, but of love and revelation. As I drew closer to God throughout my adventures, the fullness of His love was revealed to me both in brilliant mountaintop moments and through desolate valley lows. I believe God has a wild adventure in store for you. As you read, explore God’s heart. Walking with God is the greatest adventure.

"We need the tonic of wildness… At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be indefinitely wild, unsurveyed and unfathomed by us because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature."

-Henry David Thoreau, Walden: Or, Life in the Woods

God is wild and mysterious and full of surprises. I have developed a hunger to explore God’s heart and discover the adventures He has in store for me. I can never have enough of His nature, His love, His presence.

I believe in exploration. About a year ago, I wrote a letter to my sister Rachel. She loves cycling. She has gone on 100-mile bike rides and competed in bike polo tournaments. I know how much she loves the adventure of it all, and I believe the hunger for exploration and adventure is a God-given one. Here is the letter:

We need exploration.

The wheels respond to the chain

The chain responds to the pedals

The pedals respond to my feet

My feet respond to the impulses in my mind that originated in a decision:

I have decided to ride.

I ride because I’m free.

I ride to feel my freedom.

I ride to remember my freedom.

I ride to become free.

I ride to work out my freedom.

My bicycle is a guardian of my freedom. The city is the boundary of which I explore and sometimes escape. We need exploration, and sometimes we need to escape. We need a safe place to retreat - a mountain, the woods, or just a place at His feet.

If my bicycle brings me closer to anything, let it bring me closer to the One, who’s gone before, and goes before…

The One who is not afraid of my exploration; or my wandering heart; or my meandering path; or my indecision; or my rebellion; or my failures; or my successes.

The One who loves me through things. The One who calls me to the path less traveled, even to the paths never traveled, that we, together, may pioneer them. The One who is waiting for me there, at the trails head. He has the supplies for the journey; I need only to show up.

It is not an easy journey, and it does call for some sacrifice… but it is a journey worth discovering, exploring, and conquering. It is a journey that costs everything, but also a journey in which you gain everything.

I have decided to follow the One on this journey.

The decision in my mind tells my feet to respond

My feet grip the pedals

The pedals move the chain

The chain spins the wheels

And the wheels launch me forward…

Onward and upward.

There is endless freedom on this journey, and plenty of room for you to explore. Wherever you are on your journey in life, in your exploration, I pray you keep responding to God. His voice will launch you forward into an adventure beyond all you could ask