Oceans 11… diamond edition

A Night of Love, Luck, and Lengthy Price Tags

Lights dim as festive music plays, cold air meets warmth as our doors open and close while people are welcomed in, and small hints of applewood can be scented as a roasted turkey captivates the front lobby, wafting sweet aromas into the air.

This was a night of love, luck, and lengthy price tags. Hundreds came into our store for a chance to get their loved ones exactly what they want for Christmas, an affordable luxury from a jeweler with over 130 years of priceless expertise.

But this was not all. No, this was all about 10,000 dollars of jewelry in a vault that, if you can crack the code, would be going home with you.

As I ran the station, trying to look official, shuffling cards and beckoning people in to give a try at guessing the code, an older woman, whose husband admits she was bad luck, walked up to type in her 4 digit code into our vault.

As she typed in the code she mentioned, laughing as the first two digits were placed, “I have no hope for this. I never win at these things.” Then the code was accepted, the lock released, and the door swung open.

She walked away with a beautiful boulder opal piece, a baffled husband, and a stunned evening as she had “beat the odds.”

I noticed one thing. Nobody ever believes they are going to win, but they are so excited to try.

Risk, Reward, And The Fear Of Losing

Now there are a couple of factors to this.

For one, it all depends on risk. There is a difference between taking a chance to win a free Papa John’s cup by spinning a wheel for free and potentially losing your life savings gambling to win your weight in gold. Some things may be too risky to try.

On the other hand, you actually have to want to try.

There are some people, even when there is no risk to them, who will not even try, because they cannot lose if they do not give the task a chance to make them. The weight of failure outweighs the opportunity to win, so they choose to pass on the trial.

“You miss every shot you don’t take.” Michael Scott.

However, it is not that simple.

What if this giveaway is replaced with leaving an old job for a new one? Abandoning a familiar relationship for a new one? Walking away from comfort to embrace change?

That is terrifying.

Insane Steps

Everyone is told to take one step at a time and they will get through it.

In one of the Indiana Jones movies, he is on a journey to find the Holy Grail so he can save his dads life when he comes to  the final trial, an impassable ravine. Nobody dares to try to cross, as even his trusty whip would fall short and lead him to his demise.

So he remembers an old saying and takes a step into the unknown.

What happens next is one of the coolest scenes in cinema. His foot lands on solid ground, even though it was invisible to the naked eye. Had he not tried, he would have missed a chance to continue his adventure.

Was he sane? Absolutely not. It would have made way more sense to throw dirt on it to see where he was going, as he does this after the large step for Indy kind.

But things like this are not about sanity. They are about a leap of faith.

Another example would be the apostle Peter. People could easily mock him when he was told to walk toward Jesus on the water.

“How could you not just do it? I would have done that in my sleep,” one redditor exclaims.

How could you not have faith when you could see Jesus right there?

To that I ask, if Jesus could walk on water, why let Peter sink?

Yes, I know it was a faith based thing, but faith is not like endurance in a video game where I can just run out. That would have been terrifying and I could see why people called him insane.

But his faith got him out of the boat even though it was not perfect.

I believe that the Savior let him sink because we need Him to walk the rest of the way. We cannot walk alone on our invisible paths or raging seas. However, we are expected to at least take a step of faith.

Doggy Paddling To Christ

I hope I would have the faith to hop on that sea and run to Christ, but I know as soon as I started sinking that I would be the first person to doggy paddle to Him, because not trusting me seems like a bigger risk than allowing just my faith to get me to Him.

Sad, I know, but that is why we are human.

So whether you are asked to continue life on one third of the sleep of a normal person or take on hard challenges with work or school, do not be afraid to take a step.

Just remember you do not have to walk it alone.

One Step, Not Alone

Take a step my friends in your treacherous waters. Love you gang have a good week!

P.S.if you decide to take this message and go to the casinos, I will take my cut with Venmo.