While vacationing, late one afternoon our family went tubing down a river. It was fun, yet not as relaxing as I had hoped. While on the river, I opted to keep an essential and not so easily replaceable item on me the whole time, with the intent it would remain safe and secure. Despite a perilous moment in the rapids soon after I fell behind everyone else as they were carried briskly downstream per a straighter course than I, phew, at the end of the adventure the item was still there where I had initially placed it and in working order.
My plan while on the river was to stay in my tube the entire time and enjoy a leisure ride effortlessly floating along and taking in the scenery all around me. As such, I selected of the two tube options, one with a deep height circumference that would more so keep me up and out of the water.
Throughout our adventure, I kept our car key remote with me. To keep it dry and secure, I slipped it onto the waistband drawstring of my denim capri shorts and double knotted it tightly. I then flipped the knot with the key attached inside my capris between my pants and an undergarment. My top layer shirt I kept untucked to lay over top my capris. I then put on my life jacket. As the bottom of my pants legs had an elastic hem, I pulled them up to rest them just below my knees. I was hopeful that if in the event the car key remote slipped off the knotted tie, whichever pant leg it fell into, it would stay pocketed and not escape the elastic hem.
While on the bus that took us up to the drop off location where we would begin the tubing adventure, we were informed of several islands downstream and instructed to go around them on one particular side as we approached them. As I neared the first island, no matter how hard I tried to steer myself via my hands to paddle in the direction we were asked to go, I was unsuccessful.
The closer I got to the island and continued to make no headway in navigating over to the side I needed to be on, I quickly got out of the tube and tried to walk and pull the tube over to that side, but with the swiftness of the water and not being able to firmly plant my feet on anything, it was a challenge as I fought against the force of the river. I gave it my all.
All the while in the water and at the river’s mercy, after clearing the island, I prayed to stay calm as I attempted every possible way I could to get back in the tube. Unable to plop back in as I had no footing below me, I tried to grab a branch or protruding rock on the edge of the bank to hold myself steady long enough to get back in, however, that didn’t work. As the water propelled me aggressively forward, I hung over the outside of the back end of the tube. After what felt longer than it probably actually was, it was a tender mercy I reached a temporary calm spot in the river and a place where I could quickly stand up adequately and get back in the tube sitting upright.
During the time I was in the water, I was concerned that the inside of my car key remote may have gotten wet and would no longer work. Once back in the tube, I hoped the sun’s heat would not only dry my clothes but also that my dry clothes would soak up any possible water that may have gotten inside the car key remote, however, time and again as I crashed into the rapids, water toppled onto my lap and soaked up my clothes.
Even after being directly in the water and drenched multiple times throughout the tubing adventure, it was a tender mercy that after exiting the river, not only was my car key remote still there where I knotted it on the drawstring, but also when I returned to our car, the remote had only a little bit of moisture on the outside and it still worked.
When have you been concerned that something you intended to keep safe and secure may have become damaged or gone missing due to life’s happenings, and it was still there in the place you put it and in one piece?
tendermercym❤️ments~jld
“How have you noticed Heavenly Father’s awareness and mindfulness of you today?”
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