Thrills

I was kayaking when I got a text from a friend.
"Are you kayaking today?" she asked.
"Yes, on the river now," I replied.
"My kayaking buddy bailed. Are you on the Catawba?"
"Yes, how soon can you get here?"
"On my way."

This friend, Danielle is a young whippersnapper, thirty years my junior. She doesn't do placid flatwater kayaking like me. She is a whitewater kayaker, completely outfitted with a kayak that rolls over on a dime, nose plug, and helmet since what she does is downright dangerous. She doesn't have many thrill seeking friends like herself, so she has to rely on old farts like me to keep her safe as she practices her kamikaze stunts.

"You can practice your rolls," I offered when she arrived at the river.
"I don't need practice on my rolls," she said, "I need to practice rapids."
"Can't help you there," I said, gazing at my quiet river.
But then a motor boat went whizzing by, leaving a churning boil of waves in its wake.
"Danielle!" I cried, "Whitewater! Let's go!"
So every time a motorboat would pass, we would shock the captains as we paddled furiously into their roiling wake and got sucked along for a brief, rolling thrill.
Some would clap and cheer as they zoomed on, leaving us tossed and exhilarated.
"Almost as good as the real thing!" I said.

And it really was fun, and just the right amount of thrill for a chicken like me. Danielle was just glad to be in her kayak, and gracious about the less exciting thrill of riding a boat's wake rather than a real class 4 rapids. But then, Danielle admitted that while her rolls to one side were just fine, she could not successfully roll to the other side.
"We're not leaving till you get it then," I said.
And after several failed attempts, she successfully, for the first time this year, rolled over underwater, and back up on her bad side.
"Hooray!" I yelled, catching the victorious moment on my phone video.

It was thrilling- catching a ride on the wake of the motorboats, watching Danielle conquer a skill that had eluded her. I thought about what thrills me, and it is much more modest. I am thrilled when I catch a whiff of God, when I feel like all the peace and faith and love that has eluded me settles for just a moment on my horizon, when even for a brief second, I know that God is there deep within my soul, and nothing, nothing can dislodge him.

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You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done. (Psalms 92:4 NLT)






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