The day my world (almost) turned upside down.

I had a couple of people comment on this post on the question number 3...the one of me and my white water rafting experience. I thought I would share with you a paper I wrote for school a few years ago.....

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It was the children’s first time on this sort of adventure. Mom and Daddy had gone on their honeymoon, twenty-four years ago.

Today was mom’s birthday, adding a sparkle to the occasion.  After an encouraging phone call from our aunt to boost our anxious spirits, we arrived at Rapid Descent.  We were prepared, or so we thought, for what lay ahead of us.

After donning our swimsuits, T-shirts, and shorts and receiving a brief lesson on the possible risks of what could happen on our thrilling quest, seven of us loaded up into the van and headed to our launching location. At the site, we joined other rafters as they started on their adventure into the unknown. There were also some rough-looking kayakers who obviously knew what they were doing having been “raised on the waters.”

Although a native from North Carolina, our guide had the lingo of a “dude” from California.  We were dubbed our California lingo names: Daddy being “Marsh,” Mom being “Lis,” Dallas was called by his original name, and “the girls,” we set off on our exciting, yet quite frightening voyage.  Only God knew what would happen on the first major rapid we hit.

After seeing Daddy launched out of the raft, I sat momentarily stunned, until our boat hit the opposite side of the wave.  I was ejected out of the raft.  Unknowingly to me, Dallas was also thrown into the furious white waters.  Hoping to grasp a breath of air, I tried to get my head above water.  I raised my hands above my head, anticipating pulling myself to the surface.  But, to my great dismay, I realized I was lodged under the raft as we were plunging down Pigeon River at a rapid pace.  How could I maneuver myself out from under the raft?  I was becoming nervous.  I told myself, “Relax. Do Not Panic,” while thoughts of drowning saturated my mind.

“Is this what it is like to die?” “Is this what people experience when they drown?” What seemed like countless minutes, I finally broke the surface of the raging river. 

Recalling what our guide informed us just minutes before, as we fastened our life jackets and helmets, I told myself, “All right, keep your feet out in front of you. Do not try to stand up. Just float.”  I heard mom screaming my name, advising me to grab hold of her outstretched paddle.  I gripped the lifesaving, yellow paddle and held on for dear life. During all the excitement, Dallas and Daddy had already hoisted themselves back into the boat.  I finally reached the side of the boat to be rescued. Still in the rushing waters, Daddy tried to lift me into the boat but my life vest caught on one of the handles on the side of the boat…AH! Our guide, Mitch, told me to slide toward the back of the boat, away from the handle.  He snatched me up and over the side of the boat.  Without ingesting any water in my nose or throat, I was so glad to be back on “solid rubber.” 

“Are you alright, girl?” Mitch asked, “Man, there was carnage out there!” 

Yeah Mitch, Whatever…

Needless to say, I was quite unnerved as I anticipated the remainder of our voyage.  But, with our experienced guide, along with my family’s humor, the rest of the adventure went providentially well.  One time our guide told us that we might “fall out on the next rapid” (oh, great) but thankfully, we lodged our feet under the raft seats and survived without any spills.  Along the way, we glided over Lost Guide Rapid (fortunately we didn’t lose our guide) and Razor Blade, in addition to other rapids with intimidating names. 

On our river tour, we were able to get a glimpse of God’s beautiful creation.  We saw an enormous hawk fly overhead.  We saw where the water level had risen before the last hurricane, twenty to thirty feet above us.  We also saw remains of an old railroad trestle in the river. We were hoping our guide would not get close enough to puncture a hole in our raft! 

On the last mile of our journey, through tranquil waters, we were able to enjoy the ride, observe the birds, and listen to the amazing sound of water.  We were also able to talk to Mitch, our guide, about where we lived and some of the rivers and lakes there in our state.  It was obvious he loved the water.

Just maybe our Christian influence was enough to make Mitch question, “Was there something different about them?” Our terrifying incident was worth it all if he saw us demonstrate in our actions, our dependence on God in dangerous situations. 

If the story ended up a little more tragically and one of us did not survive, was it God’s timing? I’ve concluded, we are all here a little while, and if God deems that something should happen to any of us, then so be it.  But until that time, we have a great responsibility to live for Jesus and honor Him with what we say, the way we dress, and the way we act.  We need to know that other people are always watching us, in whatever circumstance, whether we are young or old. 

Most importantly, if something happened to you today, would you be ready?

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So, what do you think? Have you ever had any white water rafting experiences?