I Thank God

Out of the billions of people in the world today many of them passed away today by accidents, old age, disease, drug abuse, physical abuse, etc. Ever wonder when it will be your time to go? Ever wonder if God really is there watching over you? Today I found out how significant I am to my Father in Heaven, He really does listen and watches over us!Today I rafted for the first time down the Snake River in Wyoming at about 10 AM. I had gone rafting only one other time with Hillary in Costa Rica. The river in Costa Rica was quite tame compared to the Snake River which has reached a 10 year high due to the long winter run off in Jackson. If you have ever rafted the Snake River there is a portion of the river that is named the "Lunch Counter." This is named so because its quite possible that going through it just might make you lose your lunch!This portion of the river had a rapid that was easily a class "5" or higher it was about 6'f to 7'f high. The reason I know that is because you can actually walk down and look at it and watch rafters go right through it! Anyhow I was with a group of about 20 people, we had 2 rafts for all of us to float down on. Some people chose not to float down but rather chose to drive down and watch us go through the rapids. In my boat we had a total of 8 people. Dennis (Owner Jensens Floor Coverings), Clint Beckstead (my boss), Kyle Roberts (Tuftex Rep), Kara, Stephanie, and an 11 year old boy named Jackson (all 3 related somehow to the Jensens). I was on the front of the Boat on the right hand side, my responsibility was to listen to the "Rudders" instructions on when and when not to paddle. Anyhow as we started things were mild and we only faced a few small rapids at the beginning as we continued on we came upon a rapid that had a large island of rocks coming from the side of the river. As we went towards it our boat swung sideways and buckled and flipped in the rapid tossing all but one person from it send us all down river. I heard screaming and yelling and as I tried to get to the side of the river I saw some rocks above the river I thought I could gab on to and just as I did a big push of water knocked me off and sent me further down. The rule is if you are heading down river through rapids lay back and float down with your feet first so that's exactly what I did and let me tell you it wasn't as easy as it sounds. I could see up a head of me more rapids and some more rock extending out in to the river as I headed into it I got caught in what is called an "Eddie: or a "Hydraulic" This is where the river water runs over the rock and water underneath is moving up river causing sort of a whirlpool. I got sucked into it and waves kept crashing right over the top of me pushing me underneath and every time I came up I had just a split second to try and get some air. I did this several times sitting and spinning in just the same place. I began to loose air, I began to panic, I was losing hope. As I saw myself looking up towards the sky underneath the water, the sounds of the ferocious waves swirling over me I wanted to give up. Just when I thought I had reached the end of my life my body relaxed and boom, immediately I popped up out of the water to find a commercial rifting drifting towards me with people leaning over the side with the ends of their ores out towards me. I reached up and caught one and then two men pulled me up by my life preserver into their boat. God through the help of his people chose to save me today at the moment, yeah little old insignificant me! Out of the billions of people in the world God heard me underneath that rushing water, he heard me quietly in my mind call for help. As the raft brought me to the shore to my group and raft I looked down and realized that I had large scratches on my thighs and gashes out of my shins. My adrenaline must have been pumping really hard I didn't even realize it, nor did I realize the frigid water I was just dumped in. Kara and Jackson (11 yr old boy) were the other ones besides myself that got scared and injured. Kara had a broken nose and had similar gashes in her shins, while her son Jackson was scared out of his mind he thought he lost his mom and wouldn't see her again because they had become separated. As we all regrouped and calmed down Kara and Jackson decided not to continue down the river I chose to stay along with them because at that point I wasn't going to risk my life and ruin my family's life just for a little adventure. At least not for today anyway. So I chose to hike out to the road with Kara and Jackson in hopes to get some help and have our wounds attended to while the others would continue down the river and get some help. Well needless to say our adventure didn't end here. The hike was quite steep up towards the road. The hill was lined with nothing but lose rock and grass. The hill became so steep that Jackson the 11 year old boy began to panic and couldn't continue. I had to calm him down and figure out a alternate way out to get to the road. At one point Kara decided to continue to ascend the hill and Jackson and I became separated from her for about 45 minutes and that's when Jackson lost it! In his mind he lost his mom in the river found her again and then lost her again on the hill and wouldn't see her ever again. Again I had to calm him down and pray with him that we find his mom and we would get out okay. An hour and a half later Jackson and I found his Mom she had already made it out and he started screaming his moms name he was so happy! At that moment he turned to me and hugged me and said, "thank you, thank you I would never had made it out if you hadn't helped me get through all this." I guess the moral to this life changing story is be prepared, be ready for the challenges life will bring you. Reach out to help someone or save someone even if the situation takes you out of your comfort zone. Live a good life, be a good person love your family you never know when it will be your time. Know that there is a God, he knows who you are, where you are and what you are doing. Be willing to give him thanks for all that you have and make an effort to live according to his will the best that you can. Remember we will never be perfect in this life, we will never all be adequately prepared to meet our maker when its our time to go, but do your best all the time and if you slip get back up again and keep pressing along. God Bless all of you!