white water

My husband and I got a night away from the kids!  It was great!  It was Sunday night to Monday and on Monday we got to go do an adult activity of white water rafting.  It was amazing.  Instead of using the typical raft, we rented a double duck.  It is basically a double kayak that you blow up.  You it on the floor of it and it goes a lot faster.  Some other things that we found out is that you get a lot wetter b/c you are sitting in water the entire time and you are much lower and apparently it is easier to flip in these.

As we were preparing to go down the rapids, the guides were giving instructions to the rafters.  Telling about when to lean in and when to paddle on what side.  He looked at us and just said- “and ducky- good luck, you are most likely going to flip- just try to get back in the boat as soon as possible.  And whatever you do – don’t loose your paddle b/c you will have to doggie paddle the rest of the time.”

First rapid came and it was so different and so much more fun being in the duck!  We were right there- had so much more control of the vessel – I was in love with it.  The guides were so impressed that we hadn’t flipped yet and we were pretty proud of ourselves.  The guides were telling us the best way to get down the rapids and we were having a blast.  I even jumped out of the boat and swam in a calm part.  We got about half way down, stopped for lunch and then went to tackle the hardest rapid in the run.  A class IV rapid called dimple.  It is notorious for flipping people and has actually drowned some people.  The guides went up and took the rafts down one by one- riding in the rafts with the groups.  We didn’t have enough room for another person so they took their kayaks and we went between them.  So one went down- then we did then the second kayak.  Well…  apparently – they ARE a lot easier to flip.  Our boat flipped almost immediately.  I struggled to hold onto my sandals (since we weren’t wearing river shoes like we were supposed to) and to hold onto my paddle and to get my feet up and to try to get back in the boat.  I had gotten backwards and my feet up and the boat is flipped over onto my head and pushed me under AGAIN! 

I was really struggling – they were hollering at me- get into the boat get back into the boat- where I was simply trying to keep a hold of this priceless paddle they told me not to loose and my shoes!  I finally got the paddle back into the boat and my husband grabbed my bathing suit bottoms and the guides grabbed my life jacket and got me back into the boat.  We finished the rapid- but were definitely drenched! 

It made me think though –Christian life is a lot like a river.  We are floating down the easy parts of the river realizing that we can handle this by ourselves- we don’t need any help.  Then all the sudden, out of nowhere – white water appears- rocks get in our way and the waters become too dangerous for us to navigate by ourselves.  We can try to navigate ourselves, but it can really throw us out of our boat rather easily. 

Think about it – your life is easy- you are in control – you don’t need a guide to help you in the calm parts of life.  Then out of nowhere, something happens that churns up your life- it makes it not so easy.  If there wasn’t someone there telling you which way to go – you might take the harder, more dangerous route down the rapids.  You might flip and not have someone to help you.  It is really helpful at these times to be able to look at a guide and them to tell you which way to go that will be the best for you.  The rapid is still difficult to traverse, but you know that you have the designated “hero” around to help you if need be.  It could throw you out of your comfort zone, almost drown you and make life miserable for a little while, but your hero is there to help you out of the tumultuous water and help you.  We need to look to the Bible and our God as our Guide. 

Life n general is never easy.  Christian life is not easy either – you are judged persecuted, people are mean and rude to you.  The Bible says in Matthew 5:10-12, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heave, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

So even though I was thrown out of the boat- it was still an awesome experience- we are actually thinking of making it a yearly event and taking on the more challenging of the sections of river next year.  So even though Christianity can be a bumpy ride- it is an awesome ride- one that might throw you around and toss you out of the boat, but God is always there to save you.  Just like I learned in the river.  You can help control your vessel, but ultimately, the river is going to do what it wants with you and as long as you have a guide around, you can survive it just fine.