Lost Swimmer

 

July 30 from my journal

 I ‘m 17 and the waterfront director at a Boy Scout camp. The counselors had left the water for lunch. My assistant says there is still a nametag on the board. Go check his campsite while I check the water.

On my fourth dive, I see the body several feet below me. I gasp, lose my air and re-surface. My heart is pounding. I take a deep breadth and dive straight down, arms extended. As I near the bottom the body is a towel draped over some rocks. When I surface my assistant is walking on the dock and tells me our missing person is at the dinning hall. My reaction is how heaven feels about a new believer.

"Rejoice with me for I have found my sheep which was lost." (Luke 15:6)

Small Plane Crash

 July 28 from my journal-weekend post

 A small plane plunges into the dark ocean off Martha's Vineyard claiming the lives of the pilot, John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife, Carolyn and her sister, Lauren Bessette.

JFK Jr. left for the island that night despite predictions of poor visibility. A  reporter who is also a pilot concludes JFK Jr. fell victim to the young pilot's disease he called, "gotta-get-there-itis."

 I ask God, what am I supposed to learn from all this? "The reply comes quickly.

"Without counsel plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established."(Proverbs 22:1)

Angels in My Life

 

 

from my journal,July 26

 My thanks to these special angels:

An orthopedic nurse whoserved me for ten years so I wouldn’t be crippled;
The priest who stopped and taped a leaky fuel line in my car on a hot summer day;
The unknown angel who awakened me just as I was drifting off the road.

Thank you Lord for sending these and others in my time of need.

“He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways." (Psalm 91:11)

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"How was your day?"

 

July 25 from my journal

 How often do I casually respond, "ok or fine,"

 I take another look. The car accident that almost happened but didn’t, lunch with a friend and a hug and smile from my wife when I left. There were no severe pains, nothing dangerous to face, a computer to use, music to hear, and a Bible to read.  It was not just Ok. It was a blessed day.

 

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."(John 10:10)
"How was your day?" I now answer, "Better than I deserve."

A Valuable Reminder

 

 

July 24 from my journal

Roth, who is in his seventies and has Parkinson’s disease told this story to our group. He is at the pool and a young girl  swims to the ladder where he is standing.

"I thought because I am older and in my condition she should let me come down first. But she grabs the ladder, lifts herself  out of the water and swings by me into a wheel chair. It is then I see she has no legs. And I am thinking I’m handicapped.” We all needed to hear Roth’s message.

 "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (John 7:24)

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Getting Out of My Cave

 

 

July 23 from my journal

 

What do you do when your wife tells you she feels disconnected from you. I go into my cave to process and sulk and then pray.

 On this day, I return home to a sweet embrace. Entering my office I see a love note from Joy on my swivel chair. It is a  pencil drawing of a dark cave with two eyes peering out (me) and outside is a dancing piglet (one of my nicknames for her) trying to coax me out. I can honestly tell her that I am now out.  How God has softened my heart and removed my hurt. It takes my breath away. Wow!

 “O Give thanks to the Lord for He is good: for his mercy endures forever.” (Ps 136-1)

Violent Storm

 

July 16

 I am preoccupied with shell fishing when a crack of thunder startles me. I prepare to leave, but my motor won’t start. The sky is black. Here is a college kid in an open boat, no radio, no flares, no horn.

 A commercial fisherman approaches. All he says is, "need a tow?"  He throws me a rope. I sit,soaked and shivering with lightening all about. There is nothing I can do but leave it in God’s hands. This moment gave  me an appreciation for the apostles who awakened Jesus during a violent storm.

 

After rebuking the wind and waves Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful?How is it you have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

from gofigureamerica.blogspot