Let's Get Out of That Boat!

From one mom to another - guess what I got to have earlier this week...go ahead, guess!

One. Entire. Hour...

...of floating in the pool...

ALL
     BY
         MYSELF!

Can you even believe it?! The only sound I heard was the neighbor dog barking to be let in. But seriously. No children. No splashing. No one to bump into my float.

I went from: floating on my back in the sit-up raft, to floating on my stomach on the other one. (Very important not to get an uneven tan, you know.)

Then, when the heat got too much to bear - because we ARE having a heat wave here in Michigan - I just got off and swam a bit.

Seriously. Are you feeling it?

I was actually ALONE for an HOUR IN the POOL!

I know. I am still in disbelief as well.

But, don't worry. In case you fear that I just lied there wasting away my brain cells or something, I actually did a lot of praying and pondering.

Actually, I wish I didn't have one of those brains that won't stop thinking. But since I can't seem to stop thinking, I figured I should at least use my thinking time wisely. So I thought about what God wanted me to be gleaning from the current phase of my Mom-journey.

There isn't necessarily anything special about this phase. It's appreciatively rather serene (dare I say it).

The biggest thing that has happened recently is just my three days at my first writer's conference. I think I've been keeping myself conveniently too busy to have time to "address" the things I thought God was telling me there. That is, until I had that WHOLE HOUR in the POOL by MYSELF!

Maybe it was the fact that I was floating in water. But the story I kept referring back to was when Jesus told Peter to get out of the boat.

Matthew 14:25-33:

Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."

 A few years ago I read John Ortberg's book If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat. Part of what he talks about is that Peter didn't just have faith. He also had action. He had to actually swing his legs over the side and stand his body up on top of the roaring waters. Wow. That's powerful.

One of the books I have been reading since the Speak Up! Conference is Carol Kent's book Speak Up With Confidence. At the beginning of the book, she lists several different Bible characters. She talks about the personalities of each one and how, even with all their inadequacies, God was able to use them in specific ways. Then she goes on to ask which one we can most relate to. As I read over the list of people again - David, Moses, Miriam, Jonah, Joseph, Paul, Joshua, Peter, Esther, etc. - I kept thinking that I related most to Peter.

Here's the two bullet points Carol lists to describe Peter:

• A man who frequently acted and spoke before he thought
• A man who learned self-control from the Master Teacher

Yep. I can relate.

As I was floating around in my pool (all ALONE, don't forget), I got to thinking about the fact that it was Peter who had the courage to get out of the boat. And I wondered: am I really like Peter? Do I have the courage to get out of my boat?

No, really. Do I have the courage to take the next step (whatever it may be) and just keep my eyes focused on Jesus? Follow the sound of His voice? To step out into the middle of something much bigger than me...and allow Him to make it something spectacular?

I sit here at my desk, and I say yes.

I say yes to the planning. The preparing. The studying. The safe stuff.

Do I say yes to the part where I have to actually swing my feet over the side of the boat and get out?!

I hope so.

Is God asking you to do something that is scary? Are you ready to get out of the boat? Come on. Let's do this. Let's say yes - not just to the sound of the Savior from the safety of the middle of the boat. Let's say yes to Him calling us to get our all-too-comfortable hineys out of this boat and into the middle of where He IS!

(Allow me to channel my old Bob the Builder days)

"Can we do it? Yes we can!"