god hunting, part 1: river rafting

In 1997, Dave and I were a year into building a youth ministry at our former church, for kids our son’s age.  As part of our program we wanted to surround them with a community of adults and parents and use some physical challenges to echo the spiritual challenges that they would face as they came into adulthood.  One of those challenges was a river rafting trip on the Kaweah River near Sequoia National Park.  During spring run-off, the river is a Class IV trip… not the fiercest of raging rivers, but not an easy float either.  We had already assigned the adults and youth that would go into each boat, making sure that children were separated from their parents so that they could bond with other adults.  When we arrived to get our gear and our life-saving training (15 minutes explaining what to do if someone went overboard) we signed waivers, indemnifying the outfitter against serious injury and death, and boarded the bus to head to the spot where we would push into the river. 

I’ve never been so scared.  Suddenly I felt an enormous responsibility for what we were taking on.  The guide in our boat assured us that they pull people out of the river every day, but that offered me no comfort whatsoever.  These young people were my responsibility.  I didn’t want any of them going INTO the river, in the first place!  What made me think it was a good idea to put them in harm’s way like this?  And would I ever remember how to pull someone out myself, if I should need to, WITH JUST 15 MINUTES OF TRAINING?  However, I felt somewhat relieved when we boarded the rafts.  I was placed on the starboard bow with a young seminarian of great physical stamina on the port side.  If anything happened, I knew that he could rescue any of us who might take a spill.

The initial stages of the trip were not that daunting.  Some bouncing and bumping and a few small whirlpools that we had to pull out of with some energetic paddling.  This was fun.  But suddenly we were approaching a really serious drop, and water was converging from everywhere.  With our guide calmly giving instructions, our bow started to dip into the swirl and Brian, my young friend to my left, suddenly dropped out of sight.  Man overboard!  As I watched him lose his balance and fall into the river, I did what I’d been told to do in our frightfully brief training…I reached over and with both hands pulled on the straps of his life vest and hauled him back into the boat.  Then it hit me.  I’d just saved his life.  (maybe a little dramatic, but that’s what it felt like.)

There were other impressive rescues that I witnessed that day…none that I had to participate in; but the exhilaration of the moment when my training and instincts kicked in has stayed with me ever since.  I emerged from that experience more confident and courageous, with a great story to tell.  I had seen God show up when I needed him. 

Over the last 35 years of my life, I’ve been on a God hunt, and so I know God’s protection when I see it.

More about God hunting next week.

Love, Liz

“I see the evidence of your goodness all over my life…
     Why should I fear? 
     The evidence is here.”                      
                                   from the song “Evidence” by Ed Cash, Josh Baldwin and Ethan Hulse