A Memory in Iceland
Just want to share a memory that Tom and I will always carry with us. It happened in Iceland. On our south coastal tour of 10.5 hours we visited the Black Sand Beach. The tour guide told us not to get too close to the water's edge because 5 people had been swept out to sea and died. So I was thinking about this and paying attention to it. The waters were very rough and boisterous. The waves were bringing water into the shore line so we had to be careful not to get our shoes wet. Tom wanted to take a quick picture of me and the water but then a bigger wave forced quite a large amount of water far passed the shoreline. I saw it coming and started to run. I kept looking behind me as I was running to see if I was going to be able to out run it but quickly realized it was coming faster than I could run. Because I kept looking behind instead of concentrating on what was ahead of me, I tripped and fell landing on my one side and the waters soaked me passed my waist and splashed my face and the front of my hair. Tom saw what was happening and quickly tried to grab my hand before I fell but I went down and then he also went down and got wet to the top of his legs. A young man immediately stepped into the water and reached his hand out to help me up and out of the water. He would have got his feet soaked. God bless him.
The few seconds I was in the water all I could think about was I needed to get up and out before another wave would come and the other thought was that I am soaked and we still have another 5 to 6 hours before our tour is over. I remember praying a quick prayer asking God for His help for the rest of the tour.
Thank God my phone was in my purse which I had strapped over my head to the side and although Tom's phone was in his hand and got a little wet he hung onto it and it was totally fine.
We were thankful that God protected us even in our bad decision and He gave us His grace to not just get through the next 5 to 6 hours but to be able to enjoy the rest of our tour. He helped us to laugh about it because at that point we couldn't go back and change what happened. He helped us to have a good attitude as well.
In retrospect looking at what was behind me instead of looking at what was ahead of me was a bad decision. If I would have focused on what was in front of me, I don't think I would have fallen. My shoes and feet would have gotten wet but not the rest of me.
My gloves were completely soaked so a lady on the bus gave me her gloves which made a big difference as the temperature was around 10 or 11 degrees. We were very happy to get back to our hotel room to get out of our wet clothes and into a hot shower.
To tell you the truth, now that it is in the past, I wouldn't change a thing.
Isn't that true about our life experiences. If we look ahead at the Lord and trust Him to take care of us instead of looking back we will be better off. But even when things happen to throw us off, when we call upon the Lord for His grace and His help to have a right attitude, in a not so good situation, He brings us through, we experience growth and have a testimony of God's goodness and grace.