When We Go a Wandering

This week’s Sunday drive landed us in Pineville, Missouri. We visited there before and were drawn back by the Elk River by dreams of someday floating on it again. Since Jayme is only two, it may be a while. We need to do some research on the safety of canoeing with very young children. We settled instead by just putting our toes in the water. As you can see from the pictures, Jayme went a bit farther.

It started out well, and then . . .

Jayme started with her hand securely holding her daddy’s, but it wasn’t long until she tested the waters for herself by flinging her whole body into the stream. She floundered a little on her own. (Don’t worry. The water was only inches deep with a gentle current.) She tried her version of swimming strokes, but eventually, her face dipped below the surface. It was then her daddy reached in and saved her.

In the last post, Just a Few Words, I shared just one verse about God and what I learned from the words I found in it. This week, God took a moment to show me a picture of what the very next verse in Psalm 40 has to say.

He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.

Psalm 40:2 NLT

I can see this verse clearly through my husband’s actions reaching out and plucking our daughter from the water. He then stood her up, putting her feet on the ground, and held her hand again as they walked through the water together. There is something very endearing about watching a father love and protect his children. (Pardon my swoon.)

Lessons Learned

I love how God uses happenings in our lives to give us an example of who he is. I find it usually comes on the heels of something I have read in Scripture to reinforce the idea. The lesson I gleaned here was when we get in over our heads; God is there to grab hold of us, pull us to our feet, and steady our steps. He doesn’t leave us to drown, even if we were the ones who jumped into a bad situation. He saves us and helps us.

I guess the thing I want to express is God is very near us. He uses things all around us to show himself. He wants to make it personal through things we understand from experience. Our part is to watch for him. You might be surprised where he shows up, but one thing is for sure, he will be easy to spot. He will be the one who looks like love.

But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

Psalm 86:15 NLT

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Another Tale of Adventure

On our last trip to Pineville, Missouri, and the Elk River, my granddaughter, Hero, wondered about the sensibility of canoeing down the river. Read Paddling Through Knee-Deep Waters. You’ll find yet another example of God’s character in the story of our adventure.