It was time again for our family vacation to OC Maryland. This time we were going with our extended family. Everyday it seemed we packed up the entire contents of our hotel and set out to the sandy beaches. {I am sure you can relate to the annoying job of setting up all the junk you thought that you just might need.}
After we finally got settled, I sat down to relax from the exhausting task. I watched as each of my family memebers douched themselves in suntan oil and fixed their chairs to be directly in line with the sun. My nieces busied themselves digging in the sand oblivious to horrific heat and scratchy particles that covered them. I on the otherhand, sat quietly under my umbrella, book in hand with no plans of moving from the spot that I had settled in.
"Come on Mom", my kids teased. They were finally lubed and ready to run and dive into the pounding waves that beckoned them. "I am fine here", I told them. They laughed and ran off. They know me well enough to know that I am terrified of the water. I would jump out of an airplane before I would dive from a boat into the ocean. Okay, so I am a control freak...I know you are analyzing me right now I can feel it. Anyway, you are right, I do not like or trust that which I cannot see. The ocean is a scary place, it is unpredictable and therefore unsafe. No, I was fine right where I was at.
Then there were flies. This year it just so happened that some sort of "Exodus like" plague was sweeping across the shores in Maryland. Giant horse flies began biting us so badly that the only means of releif was...yes....go into the water. UGH!
So I went out....to my ankles....then my knees...eventually even my waist. After awhile I finally began to relax in the water. It was not as scary as I had imagined and okay I admit it was even (a little) fun.
My Sister-in-Law was standing with me, holding my two year old niece. She became hot and wanted to swim out a little further and cool off. She asked me to hold my niece for just a few minutes while she cooled off.
I held my niece who was still cranky from being bitten by the flies, and like me a little unsure of the water. She whined as I held her. "Don't worry, sweetheart, I got you and I promise I will not let you go". I pointed to the shore and we laughed as I joked that those stupid flies can't catch us out here.
That was when I noticed. There had seemed to be a long pause between waves and that could mean only one thing. I turned around slowly and behind me was a building wave twice the size of me ready to pound us. There was noting I could do, no where I could run. I could not even prepare to dive through it as I held this little girl in my arms. Instead, I turned my back to the wave to shield her from the blow, wrapped my arms tight around her with all of my strength while placing my hand over her mouth. "Please God, no matter what happens help me not to let go of her", I screamed in my head. We were going to get hit, there was no way out.
The wave hit hard tossing and turning us over in the water. It was no longer possible to tell which way was up. I held her tighter afraid that the mighty undertow would rip her from my grip. I needed a miracle and fast.
Just then I heard someone shouting our names and they seemed to be close by. I took my niece and thrust her toward what seemed to be light and the place from which the voice was coming. My niece was grabbed out of my hands by her mother. Just as I tried to get myself back up, another wave crashes over me, the undertow pulling me out to sea. Now that my niece was safe, I was too tired to fight it off I would let it take me.
I felt a hand grab my wrist and with one pull my sister in law yanked me up out of the water. I lay on the shore, exhausted and shaking from the terrifying ordeal. I crawled back to my chair under the umbrella, welcoming the flies that came to feast. I had fought the good fight and lived to tell about it...that was enough "vacationing" for me.
As I look back on the day (now that the fear has subsided). I realize that I had been given a beautiful picture of my Father's love. You see I had been going through I rough patch in my life. I was hurting deeply and could not understand why I was going through some of the problems I faced. Yet, through all of the pain....I heard that peaceful voice whispering "Don't worry, I got you and I promise to not let you go". Sometimes we have troubles no matter how strong we are in the Lord. We all have battles to fight, mountains to climb and waves that crash over us in a fury. But, it is during these times that our Father embraces us, he turns his back to the full force of impact to cover and sheild us. He covers our mouths so we cannot drown beneath it and all the while he holds on to us and he will not let go...no matter what.
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