I went floating yesterday which was one of the funnest things I've done this whole summer.
Today in church a woman gave a talk and was giving an analogy of life. She compared it to floating a river. I had a lot of thoughts floating through my mind when I thought of how floating a river can be compared to our lives.
Now hear me out. It's a pretty interesting thought! (That and I just want to tell you about my river floating experience....sooo..)
When I first got into the river it was calm. I got on my tube easily and just started on my way. Like life there are friends that come and go, that is similar to floating. Some people will make it further ahead of you and that's alright. Some people you may not be able to float the river with the whole way through but at least you got a little time with them before they drifted away. You can compare that to any friend you have ever been close with but is no longer in your life & how it's okay.
Now, there are times on the river where the harsh rapids may knock you off your tube. Maybe not necessarily the rapids.. but the rocks that you have to try and dodge. They may bump you in the BUTT and it's going to HURT and we all have to face them. Yesterday, the first set of rapids I hit knocked me off pretty hard. I like to refer to this as the trials that may come in your life. You really can't avoid having trials... but the question is are you going to be prepared for it? Because for me, I was not prepared for those set of rapids, and it knocked me off my tube.
But, then there were the friends that were floating nearby to help me out and get me back up again. This can be compared to the close people in your life that are always there for you when you fall and go through tough times. There were points on the river where my friend would hold out his paddle (don't ask where he even got that from) and I would try and grab on tight! But sometimes I would slip away, and like in life you may slip away from the friends that are there to support you and get you through the scary rapids of life.
There was a point on the river where there were clear arrows pointing the in the direction we HAD to go. It was under a bridge and you had to steer to the right (ironically enough) to make sure you don't hit a pole that's hard to duck. But my tube was taking me in another direction that basically got out of my control. Right enough, the other direction was not the safe way at all and was very dangerous. I thankfully made it through no problem, but there are times in life where I feel like I do take the wrong road and I know very clearly which road is good for me and which are not.
For the second half of the float.. I stuck with my friends. I held onto there bigger raft and made sure not to let go (for the most part). If I did let go, they would always try and catch me and make sure I was holding on again. During this half the rapids weren't as strong and it was mostly calm. It would be calm for a few minutes and then a quick rapid and then calm again. It's a lot like life. Trials come and go. We know we are going to get them, but we don't necessarily know when. That's why we were always prepared when looking ahead.
Now there were other times where I would get stuck in a part where I literally could not move my tube. It took a lot of strength to get out and eventually I did it. But when I got out, the rest of my group was way ahead of me which left me floating alone. Sometimes in life you may get stuck and there may be no one there to help you but yourself. That was a great time for me to just enjoy my own company and love the journey.
At the end of the river, the group of us all got off. We all got there at different times and were waiting for all of us to get back. Some tubes didn't make it, and the people on those tubes just floated with their lifejackets to the end while some other friends looked like they went through more of a rougher ride. But we all made it back to the shore together at some point.
I believe that's the same with life... eventually we are all going to pass on, but I believe, even though at different times, we are all going to end up on that 'shoreline' together. Excited to see each other with stories to tell of their adventures on their
river of life.
I hope that analogy made as much sense to you here as it did in my head at church today.
If you've never gone floating, I think you should try... with this analogy in your head. It may change the way you look at the simple things in life that can have similar meanings to the greater things.
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