Paddle On!

Flipping back through my pictures from the last couple of weeks, it seems like we've been paddling a fair bit. Not just on our canoe trip but here around home too. 

Paddling in a canoe, one can't help but to be amazed. Just a little bit of thin skin, be it fiberglass, plastic, aluminum or wood, between you and the water, holding you up, keeping you from sinking into the water, maybe even drowning. For the most part you don't even think about it, but every once in a while it grabs your attention. Especially when the waves are out in front for as far as you can see. The canoe just bobs to the top of each one. Your job is to take each wave as it comes, focusing on where you want to go and not on the neverending wave train. And you make it through. Sure, there's a scientific explanation but the mystery remains. What keeps this thing floating in all of these tons and tons of water?

We take so many things for granted…….

As I'm writing I can't help but to think of my son Caleb. He’s doing a two week stint as a camp counselor in Ohio. I never thought about it before, that he even said it, but I'm already missing his daily “hey Dad” greeting. 

If we take a minute to pause and think, there are so many critical things that we don't even notice until they are missing or someone points them out to us, such as air to breath, balance, hearing, eyesight, and many more. All of those physical things are tied to keeping us upright and alive, but they can be lost in an instant. 

There's also the spiritual and emotional side of things that we take for granted. We don't usually notice them until they are missing or when we think that we are about to fall out of the boat, so to speak. It's often at that point that we start to freak out. 

For me it's good to remember that there are spiritual laws in place that we can trust even more than the physical ones. The older I get the easier it is to rest in the fact that God's got this. Maybe it doesn't make sense but it's a lot like that thin hull of the canoe. I can trust in him and know everything is going to be okay! Knowing that is the difference between joy and fear. I'll take each wave as it comes and focus on the destination.

I hope you're all doing this too!

And Caleb, if you're reading this, even though I'm missing you, I want you to know that I'm proud of you and happy to see you paddling off into adulthood.