I'll be the first to admit it - I was more than a little shocked when my supervisor first proposed that I paddle 20 miles. Me? 20 miles in a kayak? Not going to lie, I laughed. Hard. I mean, let's be honest, my only prior experience in a kayak was, well...let's just say there was flailing involved and I was a deaf in one ear for about a month afterwards (thanks to an ear infection). Just ask my campers. I figured maybe I could just go for the "easier" option - the 10 mile route - and pray fervently that I wouldn't flip or find myself with a serious case of hypothermia! I mean, the forecast for the day was 40% of snow showers and a high average temperature of 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Somehow that didn't warm up the scale of my optimism!
But when Saturday at 8:00 am rolled around, I somehow found myself in a kayak with someone else running ground logistics. Hiking 20 miles is one thing, but paddling? Way out of my league! I'm not sure if I was more nervous or relieved (as the weather turned out to be nicer than expected) as my kayak got pushed into the river that morning. Either way, I was in. It was time to paddle... All in all, the morning went by pretty quickly. Within a few minutes, my gloves were soaking wet - but I managed to keep the rest of me dry. I got the opportunity to talk with one of the students who was paddling (also a prospective staff) and it was encouraging to hear why she was paddling and what she was looking to do with the talents and gifts God had given her. After a while, I found myself settling into a rhythm of sorts and before I knew it, I was alone a little ways ahead of the group. For the first time in weeks, my thoughts had room to wander across the water, instead of ping-pong-ing back and forth in my head. It was a much needed time to think and not have to organize or delicately compose my thoughts. Just raw thoughts being swept away with the current. A beautiful interruption came when a blue heron unfurled his wings and glided off not 10 feet from me. He watched me until I passed, then silently took to skimming above the dark water behind me. Just close enough to remind me to always be in awe of the perfection of God's craftsmanship. As for lunch - it didn't come a moment too soon! Thanks to Sarah (driving around town on the shore), we had warm Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and snacks within minutes of pulling up at our lunch spot. A bunch of supporters and friends came out to cheer us on, and with full stomaches and lots of encouragement, we once again returned to our boats to finish up the last 9 miles back to our put-in. The last few miles, I will be the first to admit, were probably the hardest. After rounding the Point (where the three rivers met up), my arms finally felt it was their duty to remind me that they had never paddled before and my sleep deficit was catching up to me. But thanks to Randon's continual encouragement ("Just beyond that next bridge guys!"), somehow I found myself pulling in alongside others to the take-out. That's right - 20 miles was now behind me! Back on land again, I couldn't have been more happy to hear that everyone had made it safely and that we were not feeling anything more than sore from the excursion! As I told a friend recently, I am convinced God must have provide a legion of angels to keep my kayak upright! Honest to Pete, I am no paddler. But God must know my learning style better than I do, because He continually throws me right from zero to the thick of things without giving me time to hesitate. Apparently if I have too much time to think things over, I just back out. So much for that option this time! Your prayers, your thoughts and your support were much needed on that chilly November day. Thanks always! Overall, it was a great day on the water - God had it all planned out, I just needed to, well, sit down and paddle!
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