I have a week till my sis arrives and we leave for our Chincoteague kayaking to the wild ponies trip, and then on to our mini-family reunion in NY. So next week will be crazy busy preparing. Today, I went for an hour kayaking on the Catawba, and spent some time perfecting my umbrella rig to attach to my kayak. This time, to get the umbrella higher over my head so it doesn't poke out my brains, I lashed my portable kayak cart to the back of the kayak. Then I clipped the umbrella clip to the support bars of the kayak cart. It worked really well! No more skull poking and it is pretty easy to adjust the umbrella angle now. I think I am ready for Chincoteague.
Advice poured in from family and friends over what I needed to pack for the adventure. One mentioned toilet paper, water purifier, and gloves to prevent blisters. Another mentioned a monopod to support our cameras for ideal picture taking. The pile in a corner of my bedroom is growing. There is no way all the stuff will fit in our kayaks. I am considering getting a kayak u-Haul for behind the kayak. (This is a joke -- I don't want a bunch of emails about how silly an idea this is...)
If I bring all the wonderful things I hope to bring on the kayak, there may be no room for me. Additionally, the kayak would be so weighed down that it would be very heavy to propel. Sometimes the things we are so sure we need actually hinders our purpose.
This is very true spiritually. In fact, one of my favorite lines our pastor says (he has said it often) is faith in Jesus
alone is all we need. Jesus plus _____ (
anything...fill in the blank) is not saving faith. We often add a whole bunch of things we think are necessary for the Christian walk, and soon find we are so burdened that we are not moving any closer to Jesus, and indeed are sometimes being blown further from the truth that Jesus
alone is all sufficient.
As I kayaked with the wind at my back with my magnificent umbrella rig, it acted like a sail, and I flew up the river. To my dismay, when I turned and headed into the wind, that wonderful umbrella caught the wind and blew me backwards. Sometimes what we are so sure we need hinders our purpose.
***************
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God
did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order
that the world might be saved through him.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not
your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no
one may boast.
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in
your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if
you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the
heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses
and is saved.
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
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