Time to Lose Sight of the Shore ...

When all but two of our children had left home, Gary was ready to bring his dream of living aboard our boat full time, to reality. I had always been a stay at home mom and was completely content to stay that way: “A STAY AT HOME MOM!” But I didn’t want to stand in the way of my husbands dreams and so, even though I was deathly afraid of water, I decided to trust God to take care of me. He had already taken care of two major fears in my life. I no longer was afraid to trust a man and I now had a living relationship with God through His Son Jesus. Couldn’t I trust Him to help me over my fear of water too? … It was time to lose sight of the shore! 

August 1983 ... the time had come. Our tri-maran sailboat was loaded with supplies and our girls Carmen and Sheila were down below still sleeping , unaware we would soon be joiniing the the fishing fleet, which like us, had been waiting for a day when the Columbia River bar was open and safe for heading into the open ocean.  This was going to be our first time in the Pacific with just us at the helm. No experienced sailors would be traveling with us. I was nervous because we were novices and we had precious "cargo" aboard.  The weather man had said yes ... today was a good weather day, all ahead was safe for departure from the marina at Hammond, OR. 

Early that August morning we crossed the bar of the Columbia River, heading north to the San Juan Islands. As the hours passed and night fell our girls Carmen and Sheila went to their bunks below. The moon, which had been our light, was lost behind the clouds. The waves were building and so was the pounding of my heart. “Mrs. Fear” herself was at the helm! I handled the tiller while Gary tended the sails. I was afraid that my husband would fall overboard and I “knew” if he did, I would not be able to find him. The seas were bigger than I’d ever seen before but there was no place to go… so I just kept sailing and praying. Soon the sails were changed and Gary returned to the cockpit to take over the steering of “SON-BIRD”. I lay down at the feet of my husband trying to sleep. I didn’t want to go below where the girls would see the shape I was in. As I dozed I began to think of other journeys we had made on the Oregon Coast. I remembered a pod of Dolphin’s that had swum along with our boat on a moonlit night! Because of the phosphorescence in the water we could see their sleek movements perfectly. But that night there were no dolphins, only seas bigger than I cared to deal with! As we sailed on through the night I began to willfully meditate on a passage from the Bible that says “He leads me beside still waters” I told the Lord, “These are not still waters”! Suddenly I was filled with peace and in my heart I heard Him say, “I AM” your still waters”! He hadn’t chosen to calm the seas that night, but instead had chosen to calm my raging, fearful heart! I was no longer afraid. We were not alone as we sailed the Pacific headed for San Juan Islands. On that dark night I learned once again His promises are true…He will never leave or forsake us! Our Captain was on board!
"You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."