Three words: rafting the Nile!!!

   Didn't expect Day One in Uganda to include paddles and life jackets but I'm totes cool with it. After 40 hours worth of travel, nothing sounded better than spending the day on the water. So, following a short rafting tutorial, i.e. "Hold on tight. And if you fall out, keep your head above water until we can get you.", my team and I headed out to tackle the Class Five rapids of the Nile. And life was grand!

    Until we flipped. 

   It was the second rapid we came across that day. We were paddling hard and strong sraight thrugh it. Just when I thought we'd made it out in one piece, we got wrecked. A giant wave took our 9-person raft and flipped it like pancake. And for a split second, I thought I surely was going to die. 

   I fought my way to the surface only to realize that I was stuck on the raft. I gasped for air and swam as hard as I could.  After what seemed like an eternity, I managed to push the raft off of me. I cannot begin to explain how happy I was to see the sun again. It was a glorious sight!

   Luckily the current brought the now righted raft right back to me and I was able to grab hold of the safety line. Our guide pulled me from the water and I collapsed into a soaking heap in the corner.

  I survived. And I was smiling. 

 Now, fully recovered from the adrenline rush, I've decided that whole rafting adventure is a pretty cool metaphor for Life. Sometimes we get a little cocky. We overcome some obstacle in our way without difficulty and expect the second obstacle to be just as easy. And then, when we least expect it, our lives get rocked. Our comfy little realities flip right over and we are lost at sea. 

  It is then, when we are completely helpless and quite possibly close to death, that we remember how beautiful the Son is. It is then that we look to the Heavens for our safety line. I am simply overwhelmed with gratitude for the hundreds of times He has pulled me from the water.   

  Sometimes, the journey isn't always pretty and you may end up soaking wet and shaking but if your doing it with Christ, you'll be smiling at the end of it all. 

  Shoot. Lord, flip me all you want.

Much Love,

Colleen