Serving God with a Diamond Cutter...BANG!

When I was a kid I loved to watch wrestling. This love continued on into my adult life. The last time I watched wrestling regularly was before my son James was born, about 4 years ago. Even now, if I am flipping through the channels I stop sometimes stop and linger a bit at the show. I would probably watch the whole show if my kids were in bed or my wife wouldn't look at me like I was an idiot.

13 years ago i was still very much into wrestling. one of my favorites was diamond Dallas Page, otherwise known as DDP. DDP would beat his opponent senseless and then quickly throw his hands over his head with his thumbs and pointer fingers touching, making a diamond shape. This was his way of telling the crowd he was ready finishing move "the Diamond Cutter". When his hands went up in the shape of the diamond, all of the thousands of people in the arena jumped to their feet, mimicked him by throwing their arms up in the shape of a diamond, and screamed in an amazing unified roar of voices.

Around this same time I had just taken my first job as a youth director. I was only a 3-month rookie. I was with my youth at Summersalt, a summer camp in South Carolina. in between worship times, bible study, and meals we had some free time, and we usually chose to go to the pool. This was a really nice pool with a high dive. A bunch of people were going on the diving board and diving in, and each person diving from the high dive had the undivided attention of the entire pool.

I got in line and slowly made my way to the ladder, then up the ladder, and finally out on the board. I walk to the end of the board and realized it looks a lot higher when you are standing on the board. I looked out over the 50-70 youth in the pool, and I had no choice. The time called for it. I looked at the water, and then I looked again at the youth, and I threw my arms up in the air with my thumbs and my pointer fingers touching, the sign of the "Diamond Cutter". I quickly found that the 50-70 youth in the pool were also wrestling fans as all of their arms shot in the air, and i got a mini version of the scrams DDP received each week.

When DDP threw his arms in the air he was giving a sign of his finishing move. he was saying something special is about to happen. Here I was the heels of my feet on a high dive, my toes hangin off the edge. I had told the large group of youth (without saying a word) that something special is about to happen. I had better deliver. sure a 270 Lb cannonball is cool, but lots of people do cannonballs. I had told them to look at me here comes something special. I only had one choice once I had decided against the cannonball. i bent my knees, bounced once, and jumped hard. My arms and legs went spread eagle, and I dropped 20 feet parallel to the water. The volume of the sickening slap of my 270 Lb belly flop was only second to the cheers in the pool. My intense stinging and beat red wounds subsided, but the sound of that slap lives on in my head. It brings a huge smile to my face.

I am now 13 years older and 10 Lbs heavier. All of the youth in the pool have graduated. Many of them are married, and none of them remember that day. I don't throw up the sign of the "Diamond Cutter" anymore, but maybe I should. Maybe I should throw up my hands and use my thumbs and pointer fingers to make the shape of a diamond warning everyone in sight that something special is about to happen. But when you throw up the sign and step up with only your heels touching the board, you have to deliver.