our 4th of july

Thanks for the photo, Ally!

 I can only imagine what our neighbors thought of us, as my brother, sister-in-law, mother & I piled into the boat and headed out on the lake - bringing a guitar & djembe with us. They probably thought we had one too many toasts to the good ol' U.S. of A. as we rowed about singing patriotic songs.

We just thought of it as caroling.

You know, people go door to door around the holidays serenading folks with Christmas songs, so why not on the 4th of July, too? :)



Ally was the originator of the whole idea, and it just suited the crazy side of us all. So after a close game of badminton, we climbed in the rowboat and went caroling about, like 4 troubadours in medieval times.


We had a blast. It was so much fun sitting there in the middle of the lake, the warm air surrounding us, and singing away... even if my guitar kept going out of tune from the dampness. It just lent to the *ahem* rustic charm of it all. :)


I don't know how long we were out there for , but suddenly I glanced up at the sky and saw dark clouds rising quickly from the northern horizon. Out of nowhere, a strong breeze sprang up. We all looked at each other knowing a storm was coming.

We started to head for home, but the wind kept pushing us off course, and if you've ever been in a rowboat with four people you know how hard it is to steer in good weather, but with a wind - it's very challenging. Mike was at the oars, and put all his effort into it, but it was slow, hard work.

About halfway home, the wind still picking up, thunder rumbling around us, and what seemed like a long way to go before us, I thought of the 12 disciples struggling against the storm in the Sea of Galilee, as Jesus rested in the back of the boat, and had to laugh at the similarity of our situations.

It was then that I realized that the same Son of God who was asleep in the boat and who calmed the storm, also said to us believers " I am with you always, even to the end of the age," and was with us, even then, in our storm.

We asked for his protection, and the favor that the storm would not begin till we were safely home. With a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether, we made it to our own dock, and just as we were climbing out onto dry ground...

we felt the first drops of rain.