“Jesus replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.” Matthew 8:26
We have just returned from an amazing river cruise on the Snake and Columbia River Gorge. Yes, it was “gorgeous.” I love all things with waterfalls, cliffs and being surrounded by God’s incredible creation and with no buildings!
The trip began as we left the dock at dinnertime to a sumptuous meal in the elegant yet quaint dining room. We went with dear friends and chose a table for 6 so we might also meet a new couple at each meal. I am not a dessert girl but knew in the west there are berries I absolutely love and they are marionberries and huckleberries. When our dear server Andree mentioned huckleberry ice cream, I was all in!
Each day brought a new adventure from Mount Saint Helens to Multnomah Falls to visiting an alpaca farm. We had to “endure” going through 8 locks or mini versions of the Panama Canal. It was not my favorite experience because being stuck inside of a gigantic concrete box while the water is going out and we are sinking 80-115 feet to lower water…whew, was not my idea of fun! My favorite part was when the huge door opened and we were headed out.
Midweek something happened that made the locks seem rather minor. This river gorge is famous for its very windy canyon. (Normally about 30 mph or more.) We saw many hang gliders, wind surfers and kite boarders along the way. Several came way to close to our ship. On this particular day, the winds began to increase and you could really hear the ship slapping into the approaching waves. I was in front, as always, clearly watching through the huge front windows and taking photos of how large the waves were getting. Suddenly it occurred to me, these are 8’-10’ foot waves and later learned the winds were gusting to 70 mph.
I kept thinking they might break through these windows. With that thought, I went quickly to the back of the room. My husband quickly says to me, “Hmm, this may be our Titanic experience.” I was not amused and directly left the room. Within moments, we heard a loud sound and people began rushing out of the room as the waves had indeed broken two of the huge windows in the front of the ship. The windows hit two people and the water was rushing in…it was very frightening!
In that moment and before I left the room, I was thinking our Lord can calm the winds and the sea (or river) and began to pray and asked Him to calm the sea and the wind. We were told to be seated and brace ourselves as the Captain announced she had to turn the ship around. She knew how treacherous it could be in big waves and told the crew to prepare for rough seas. Not feeling much like dinner at this point, again, I asked the Lord for a miracle to make the waves and winds calm as the Captain turned the ship.
We watched a miracle unfold as the ship made a big U-turn and the sea was so calm and smooth. It was unbelievable and I heard many people say that it was a miracle. We then cruised downstream with much smaller waves guiding us back to a dock where we stayed overnight while feeling very blessed.
We need these storms in our lives because it reminds us where we always need to be…safely in the arms of our loving Savior and Lord.