Over my head

OVER OUR HEADS

While at the beach, the tide went out and it became evident to me that if I was careful, I could swim out to the second sand bar. As a kid, living in Florida, that was a great place to find sand dollars and to float in peace to the rhythm of the sea. So a friend and I (never do this alone), dove in and began to swim through the surf out to the second sand bar. The water was beautiful and the waves were perfect. It was shallow for a really long way and it was cool to be able to look back from the depths to the shore and see life from a different perspective.
But it only took a few minutes for some others to discover what we were doing and follow behind. Realizing we had company, we decided to start swimming back towards the shore because we didn’t want anyone to be unsafe. I could touch bottom, but knew the tide would shift and the current would be an issue for those who were not familiar with that kind of water. As the tide was changing and we were swimming in, it often felt like we were swimming, but going no where because of the current. It was not a riptide, just the tide going out, but it meant we were going to have put our heads down and swim in, instead of just the casual swimming that most of us do. So, I put my head down and started to shore, only to look back and realize that was not the case for those behind me. I swam back out and instructed them to just put their feet down, to touch bottom. Not being as tall as I was, it was over their head. So, I reached out my arm and said, “come on, we’ll do it together.” Easy enough, we swam together towards shore, a ride on my back til they could touch and then instruction to put head down and swim.
We were out over our heads, in the deep. The perspective was awesome… It is always good to realize that being over your head is not a bad place to be, as long as there is another to help you along.
Sometimes, I think we are afraid to dive into the deep in with God because we are afraid we will bite off more than we can chew or find ourselves over our heads, unable to touch. But not touching isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is in those moments that you have to reach out, lean in and rely on another-not just be independent and rely on your own strength or ability.
Brian Littrell has a song called “Over My Head”. The lyrics say that being over my head is where I want to be so that I am lost within His love, a love that covers and is strong and cleansing like the tide. That in the place where I am over my head, I can find a place to rest. And to let the current pull you deeper into Him. That Jesus was the hand that reached out to us, when we were over our heads. The words are nothing more than my experience in the surf.
So dive in deep with Him and find yourself over you head, go with another-never alone, but know that His current will pull you deeper into Him and you fill find rest in being over your head.
Ps 42:7-8 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Thy waterfalls; all Thy breakers and Thy waves have rolled over me.The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life.
Doxa


ALL FOR YOU

Markers

MARKERS

On a recent trip to Atlanta, we encountered a little excitement. We were moving swiftly down Interstate 85 when the white Denali, 2 cars in front of us began to slow down drastically. The van in front of us swerved off into the median and all the traffic behind us began to slam on brakes, including the tractor trailer truck on our right. The Denali slowed to almost 10 miles an hour and was swerving from lane to lane, blocking both lanes of traffic. It crossed to one side and then the other and then back. We finally got to a place where we could pull up beside it and discovered the man traveling alone in his car was having a seizure and was not conscious. His vehicle was basically unmanned and wrecking havoc on I-85. It finally swerved across all lanes of traffic and climbed up an embankment and stopped. The car was still running and the man was still seizing when my husband and I parked the car and jumped out and ran to help him. The car was locked and there was no way in. I called 911 and asked for help. The operator immediately asked me where we were. To which, I had no answer. We had not been paying attention. We were driving and talking and all I knew was we were someplace on I-85 passed the wine place and before we entered Atlanta. The woman asked me what the mile marker was on the road. I couldn’t see it. It was too far away. So she asked me to run towards it and to tell her. So, I started to run down the interstate with my phone to my ear, while my husband tried to get the man to wake up and unlock the door. Meanwhile, he looked up and saw me running down the interstate and thought I had lost my mind. He didn’t much like the idea of his wife running in flip flops down the interstate. When I got within eye shot of the mile marker, I told the woman and she dispatched help. A few minutes later the fire truck arrived and help came to rescue the man, who was very lucky not to have killed himself or anyone else.
However, the whole chasing after the mile marker episode got me to thinking. Markers are very important. If it had not been for the marker, no one would have known where to come for help. It gave direction and marked the road so that rescue could happen. It also helped us to see where we were when we didn’t know where we were.
Markers are important on the roads we travel, on the journey of life. They mark the way and show us where we are, how far we have come and help us to know where we are going. This is not a new thing. God instructed His people wherever they were to leave markers, altars, memorials or signs to mark the way, so that those who came behind would remember the way and walk in it.
Markers have become a VERY important part of my life. I was glad that there were markers on the road to help rescue that man, but I am all the more thankful for markers, memorials and altars that have marked my road, my journey and keep me on track, show me the way and help me to remember where I have been and where I am going.
What kind of markers do you have in your life? Perhaps you need to begin to lay some mile markers so that you can find your way. I can look back at my markers and say….wow, look how far we have come…or remember when. And know that the Lord has been with us every step of the way.

Doxa
ALL FOR YOU