When You Pass Through the Waters.......

I'm back home after a week of family fun in San Jose del Cabo. The experiences and daily inspirations are still with me, so rather than my sand and beach blogs, now I'm taking it to the open waters and the chills and thrills of some water adventures.

My oldest and youngest grandsons headed out on stand-up paddle boards. That is a feat in itself -- to get yourself upright on the boards. I'm doing good to get in an upright position from the ground -- never mind, on water! (Gasp!) The waters were smooth and the tide was slow coming in. No concern. No life vests needed -- after all, they didn't plan on going out very far from shore. What started out to be a 15-minute joy ride, turned into massive concern for their lives when the wind picked up and the waters started rolling out, and so did the boys. They continued to get taken further out from shore. They'd make a little progress forward, but then the waves would take them even further out. Both guys started to get very concerned when their paddling and leg strength was gone. Braden was about to get Bryson to move over to his paddle board because it would be better than getting separated when all of a sudden, after an hour of struggling, the winds stopped, the waters smoothed out and they were able to easily paddle themselves back into shore. Big Braden admitted to how concerned he was for their lives.

I understand there are benefits to paddle-boarding, besides the fun. You can get a tan, burn more calories in an hour than most sports because of the combination of strength, balance, core, and endurance. So I'm assuming my Braden and Bryson burned a lot of calories. But, there are also detriments.

Brennan and Bryson's adventure is a reminder of the times that our faith journey has highs and lows, scary and, sometimes, painful times. It’s in those times that we don’t take life for granted and we press in for divine intervention. Every day, whether we are aware of it or not, our lives may be spared as we may be in near-death situations, near-devastation circumstances – but God is with us in those stormy, perilous waters times. The reassurance of it all – God NEVER leaves us or forsakes us in ALL of life's adventures. We just need to hang on for dear life and enjoy the ride that, no doubt, will soon come to an end!

The next day, Bryson wanted to snorkel so he put on his equipment and headed out. I kept an eye on him as he seemed to be with a couple of other kids and stayed quite close in when all of a sudden the three of them plus a guy on a paddle board seemed to get further away. I became concerned about their safety and rushed to them along the shore when the guy on the paddle board signaled the "OK" sign and I realized he was one of the water attendants, and so was the third guy in the water. Those two kids were well protected by two trustworthy guys.

Bryson's snorkeling adventure reminds me of when our faith journey is more routine, uneventful, calm and filled with joyful and peaceful times. And, like those smooth-sailing waters times and like those attendants watching over the kids, God is with us and we come to know God's faithfulness to us.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6