The Power of Preparation

So, I’ve struggled with writing about this. I didn’t want to share this now because I was considering sharing it later, perhaps in a book. But this is the one that I kept coming back to, and so I decided to stop arguing with God and roll with it.

Have you ever thought you were prepared for something in life, only to realize you were not prepared at all? Sometimes, my plans get interrupted by small, insignificant things, such as a grocery store run that I hadn’t scheduled. Or maybe it’s even doing a favor for a friend because I have some extra time and can do something nice for them.

Other, more monumental interruptions might be ones I never even saw coming. It might be a diagnosis I wasn’t prepared for. Every time I get into my car, I assume I’ll arrive safely and securely at my destination. How about going to bed at night? That doesn’t come with the promise of waking in the morning. Every morning I wake up is a gift from God that I often take for granted. I often jump into the events of the day instead of starting with praise, worship, and seeking guidance and strength for the day.

So many times, I have thought I was grounded and had my plans firmly planted and ready for life’s next experience. Quickly, I learned life can come at me hard, fast, and knock me flat on my hiney. When that happens, most of the time, I am left sitting there basking in my grief, wallowing in my weeping, and completely ill-prepared. Then, other times, I find laughter and joy in the change of my plans. For example, this upcoming school year, I will be teaching science instead of language arts. At first, I struggled to embrace the change, and I certainly didn’t see it coming. However, I’m now excited and eager to make a change.

Tim and I recently went on vacation to the beach. The beach is my happy place. I’ll go ahead and tell you the salt air, the warm sunshine, and the ocean have always been my BFF. Tim, on the other hand, would just as soon do anything than to have to go to the beach. He hates it so much that I usually go with my sister so that he doesn’t have to endure it. Yet this year, we decided to celebrate 34 years of marriage a little early with a really fantastic beach trip.

While at this beautiful beach, we decided to play in the ocean. We had been snorkeling several times, but this time, we decided to enjoy the water. Several other folks were doing the same thing. And, yes, most of them were younger than us. We were the only two old fogeys out there trying to be young again. That should have been our first warning right there. This event might also serve as a good warning to our children that when Tim and I are left alone, we can get into more trouble than they can ever get us out of. I just love how these roles have reversed, and now they worry about us!

Right before Tim and I went into the water, he cautioned me to take off my sunglasses. Nope. Not me. All the other young, vibrant girls had theirs on looking good, and I didn’t want to, well, you know, look “older.” Mistake number 1: It’s okay to be who you are. Trying to be like everybody else can often end disastrously. I was too focused on my looks instead of my preparations. Isn’t wisdom supposed to come with age?

I swear, I don’t think we were even in the water for two minutes when it happened. We were barely waist-deep. It wasn’t like we were struggling to wade into the water because it was so warm. I don’t know where it came from, this big wave. I had no idea there was such a thing as a rogue wave. I will tell you that I can’t swim when, in reality, I can swim a little. I can swim perfectly fine if I can touch the bottom, but the very second I notice I can’t touch the bottom, I will drown myself and everybody around me who tries to help. Knowing this, it would have been helpful if Tim had informed me about rogue waves before we became victims of one.

This rogue wave came from nowhere. Tim saw it coming, and he tried desperately to hold onto me. But there was nothing either one of us could do. In my mind, this wave was equivalent to a tsunami crashing down on me. I could feel Tim’s fingers slip right off my arm. I remember being underwater forever. Holding my nose, I kept thinking, “Hang on, hang on. Don’t breathe, just hold on.”

The current was so powerful, and the wave was so massive that it left me flattened. My top was somewhere around my throat, and my bottoms were somewhere around my knees. I saw Tim still in the water near where we were when the wave hit. He was trying his best to get to me while retrieving his swimming trunks from his knees. I couldn’t do anything because another wave was coming right down on us again.

I battened down the hatch; in other words, I covered what exposed body parts I could and braced for the impact of rogue wave number two. Again, I held my breath and prayed for the best. Finally, it was over. I just sat there in the sand as the ocean so kindly filled what was left of my swimsuit bottoms full of sand. Tim was screaming at me to get up, but I didn’t have any strength left to get up. By the time Tim got to me, I had finally covered the indecent parts back up. He pulled me up, and we dragged our whipped, defeated bodies back to the beach. I remember taking notice of the people sitting on the beach, giggling and laughing, as we two old fogeys collected our items and left the beach.

Fortunately, we found a shower along the path at a random hotel. We were able to wash most of the sand off before trying to get into the car. That’s when I discovered that the people on the beach might not have been laughing so much at us getting wiped out. They could have been laughing because of my sagging bathing suit bottoms. There were so many handfuls of sand literally packed into my bottoms that it looked like I had gone to the bathroom in them in a bad way.

Once cleaned enough to get into the car, Tim and I took our tired bodies back to our room, where we napped for a few hours. Lesson learned.

Now that we’re back home, I can’t forget thinking about that rogue wave. It has provided us with a lifetime of giggles, snickers, and even full-blown laughter. However, it has also caused me to think about the rogue events in life. I have no idea what today holds or what tomorrow will bring. How will I get through any of it? Being a Christian doesn’t mean I won’t go through things. It does mean I won’t go through them alone.

Life is hard. No matter how much preparation I put into life, I can never be truly prepared for it. Except in one area… being saved. It’s my greatest preparation. It’s the preparation that I need to ensure my children, family, and extended family, as well as friends, are aware of. It’s the preparation I need to share with even my enemies, and that’s a hard one to do. It’s hard to pray for my enemies, especially if it’s someone who has hurt someone I love. 

I think about what Jesus said about preparing a place for us in John 14:2, “ In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Jesus has a place for me, but I only get to see it through Him. 

Hell is real. And those who don’t know God and aren’t prepared for God’s place will never have eternal life. On that day, it will be like a rogue wave they thought they were prepared for. They will think they’re fine, it won’t ever happen to them, and that they’re strong enough to fight it. They will hold their breath and repeatedly remind themself to hang on. They will never even see it coming until it’s too late. It will leave them broken, hurting, disappointed, unloved, and lost forever. 

Help me share God, His love, and the news that He has prepared a home for everyone who accepts Him. 

For your entertainment only! I have wrestled back and forth with posting this video. While on vacation, I did little short videos every day that I sent to my family. One reason was so they knew we were still alive. LOL! Tim and I never travel, so many family members were concerned if we could get there and back! Another reason I made the videos was so they could share the experience with us. This video brought them a great deal of laughter, and I thought you might enjoy a good laugh too.