When you are adrift in the middle of the Lake,

being pushed by the winds and moved by currents, is not the time to find out that ~

• you really don’t know how to paddle,
• your communication skills are lacking,
• you are trusting in people who also paddle willy nilly,
• you have set an impossible arrival time to cross the lake, and
• it will be several hours before the wind changes direction to help push you home.
  

I have several photos of the boys in canoes, kayaks, and little rafts paddling around little ponds.  They like to paddle. They love water crafts - the freedom of movement. However, what I missed seeing, is that they are only really stirring the water with a stick, being happy to go wherever the stirring takes them. I’ve seen them get frustrated with the one man rubber raft, both declaring it too hard to use, paddles are all wrong – joy gone, tiredness sets in, and they put up the boat. I never gave it second thought  -

Until today. When I had the bright idea to bring in PE to the learning  time late morning, paddle a bit in the boat, and then pick up hubby for lunch.  We happily paddled willy nilly out ot the middoe of the lake, then turned back east to head home. However, we were unaware of the currents in the lake, or that the small wind that picked up was enough to spin us around, or that we lacked the power to paddle against it. The harder we tried, the further the wind blew our craft west across the lake.

We came up with a plan to paddle/drift to the south edge of the lake, then take our time and move dock to dock, so we could rest without the wind moving the avon.  It took us an hour to move from the middle of the lake to the south edge.

We stopped at one dock point, had a rally, an impromptu demonstration of how to really control the boat, using the oars as a rudder, how to take turns on either side paddling, how to use a better fluid move with the paddles, how to watch the stern to judge direction, how to keep the wind from spinning us in donuts.

With a deep breath, the determination to get home, and the confidence that we could work together, we went dock by dock, for an hour, and made it back. We got to see a variety of birds, several enormous carp, and some great dock designs.

My arms are like jello. If I did that every day for a week or a month, I’d probably have an entirely chiseled upper body!

There were times when each of us felt like crying, and times when we felt alone. Hubby didn’t have a car to deliver the motor to us. The motor was in the boat house, I thought it would be fun to paddle on our own. . . .

And I started thinking –

Of how many of us think we knew how to paddle, but found our ignorance and lack of skill when forced to paddle against the storm?

How many of us think our relationships are great until one of the people decides to speak their own truth and the other disagrees?

How many of us think we have the faith to move mountains, until a few pebbles fall in our paths?

How many of us think we have patience and trust with prayer, until prayer doesn’t seem to move the boat forward?

Faith, Trust, Hope, and Paddling – can not be tested, until you thrust head first into the wind trying to continue forward in the way you know you are supposed to go.

We think we trust, we think we walk in the Spirit, we think we battle as prayer warriors – but there is a difference from sitting on a lounger on the deck with a cup of coffee and being in the wind drifting with children in a canoe that can flip.

As an update – I wish I had re-read this before I started my Saturday. I was enjoying a wonderful morning with my husband, in our coastal town, partaking in all of the tourist activities, sun, no wind, low tide. When the mechanic and I started disagreeing. And he started accusing me of false statements. And I started accusing them of false dealings. Round and Round, the phone calls went for 2 hours, culminating in my most embarrassing moment ever picking while picking up the car. In the end, I received what I needed, and they delivered what they promised, with alot of ugly in the middle.  Un necessary ugly.  At some point, I should have taken my own wandering thoughtful advice to Put the Rudder Down and Change Direction.  How quickly we are put into an environment to test what He is teaching.  May the next exercise go better. :)

May the wind be always at your back, but may you persevere and come through .  Love to you! :)