Kayak season has started early in Charlotte! That does not bode well for me finishing the novel I am writing. I had the afternoon reserved for working on my manuscript...but then the sun and 75 degrees knocked on my door. I opened it and said, “I don’t think I can come out and play...I have so much work to do....”. The gorgeous day was NOT taking no for an answer.
Tomorrow it may rain so I’ll follow the sun!
I believe that is a song. If it isn’t, it should be.
I closed my computer and pulled my hair back in a ponytail and dashed off to the river. There was one other kayak on the river but that was the only other boater I saw. As I was preparing to launch my boat, a mom and three little children were on the dock. They were all under five years old and the mother looked weary. How could she not be? But she was gamely showing them the glory of God’s creation on that beautiful day. The children were transfixed, falling silent as I pulled my kayak on its nifty kayak cart onto the dock.
“Wow,” the oldest child finally said. “Look at that.”
I smiled at the children as the mother grasped the hand of the youngest who was tottering a little too close to the edge of the dock.
“Are you going on the water in that?”the oldest child asked while the others stared at me, wide-eyed.
“Yes.”
“HOW???”
“Watch,” I said, “I will show you.”
I put the two halves of my paddle together which caused gleeful laughter. I snapped my phone on the magnetic mount on my bow. That evoked many gasps of amazement and more questions. I told them my phone tracks my path and how far I go, and also I can take photos. Next I slid my kayak onto the VERY COOL roller bars of the docking section. If you haven’t seen these new kayak docks, you need to. They are almost as great an invention as the coffeemaker. I don’t have to step in the water at all. There are handrails on either side of the roller bar path. I sit in the kayak, use the handrails to roll myself into the water and voila, my kayak is in the water without me getting a toe wet!
When I did that, the kids started clapping and cheering. It was like they had just seen a rocket launch to the moon. I showed the children how I paddle and explained how I always go out against the wind so the wind will carry me back when I am tired. The children and mom all beamed. The mother thanked me for showing her children such a miracle.
Once on the water, I forgot about all the work waiting for me at home (though I did get three work calls while on the river). I spent the next hour and a half praying and thanking God for the blessing of the river, my body still working, and the privilege of prayer. Many things were on my heart. It is amazing how the river in conjunction with going to God in prayer soothes one’s soul no matter how anxious one’s heart may be.
Peace descends upon me; partially from the rocking of the waves, partially from the sound of the geese and osprey, and mostly from the solitude. I love and totally understand the portions of the Bible that describe Jesus breaking away from His ministry to go to a solitary place to pray. I LOVE my work with Cities4Life on the sidewalks of the abortion center, speaking on behalf of the babies who cannot utter a sound in their own defense. However, it is demanding work, with a ferocious spiritual battle. I rejoiced to find out two women chose life yesterday on that very battlefield between the forces of life and death.
When I left the river, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home. As I got out of the car, I saw a policeman by another car, a worried look on his face. Then I noticed a toddler in a car seat...alone. The window was rolled down a little but it was a hot day. No doubt the car was hot...and no baby should EVER be left alone in a car. The officer was talking on his phone, maybe calling in for a locksmith, when I saw the mother approaching. She had several bags of groceries in her hand. I saw the same weary look on her face as I had seen on the mom at the dock. However it was a different weary. It was a weary defeat. It was someone who had given up. She knew she had done a foolish and even evil thing.
Choices! There is no temptation that is not common to humankind. We all face temptations. We can choose right or wrong. Good or evil. Two weary women had made too very different choices. One will end the day tucking her children in who will be glowing with the joy of their day. The other may have no child to tuck in that night depending on whether DSS decides to take the child away.
Today, I return to the fray on the sidewalks of the abortion center where choices will again be made. The choice for life...or the choice for death. I am so grateful that I had that time yesterday following the Son. I pray that today I reflect His light to those who are struggling in darkness. The director of Cities4Life often says, “You cannot give what you do not possess.” If I do not have the peace and hope and truth of Jesus in my own soul, how can I offer it to those who are in desperate need?
Refuel, and then re-enter the calling to which God beckons.
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Luke 6:12
In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
Matthew 14:23
And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
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