Rachel's Raft Excerpt
Fall 2013
“Hey,” I said, “I have some bad news. We have termites.”
Silence.
“You’re kidding.”
He was upset and confused, as was I.
“Well, God’s gonna have to provide, somehow,” he said before we hung up.
When Jill answered the door, the kids ran in to play while she and I walked toward the dining room table to sit down.
“I don’t know, I just don’t know anymore. . .I’m broken. I don’t have anything left.” I said as I put my head down on her dining room table.
Stunned, she sat, listening to the termite story and the wise words of the termite man.
“What? That’s unbelievable. Just think of it like this Rachel, you’ve been chosen,” she said as she smiled.
“Ugh. It sucks then, to be chosen.”
“At this point you’d do anything,” she said as she looked at me in the eyes.
“Yes, anything, I’m so broken, honestly…whatever, wherever, we would do it!”
“Like, if God asked you to go to Africa to work in an orphanage, you would do it.”
“Oh, for sure, we would--we would go,” I said as I looked at her from across the table, “Yes, we would go anywhere, do anything, whatever God wants us to do.”
*****
That evening, after the kids were in bed, I was laying on the couch with a blanket pulled up over my legs. Michael was showering, and I was thinking about all that had happened that day. He came out of our bedroom and was standing at our door, at the foot of the couch, holding his toothbrush.
“How was Jill’s?”
“Good.”
“What all did she say.”
“You know,” I paused, “She said something very interesting today that really took me off guard, made me stop and think.”
“What’s that?”
“I was telling her how broken we were, that we were at the bottom, and that we would do whatever God told us to do, no matter what. She laughed and said, ‘You’d go to Africa and work in an orphanage if He asked you to, wouldn’t you?’” I told her that for sure we would.”
He looked at me.
Silence filled the air.
Then, very intently, he said,
“We should just go get on a cruise ship.”
At that moment, I felt like I’d never felt before. It was a supernatural awakening. It was a Holy Spirit rush through my body. Words of life to a lifeless body.
I sat up.
“What did you say?” I asked, my eyes gazing into his, my entire body revived with a word.
“What?” he said, “A cruise ship. We should all go live on a cruise ship.”
“A cruise ship,” I stopped, feeling like my body had just woken up from a very, very deep sleep, “Oh my gosh, that’s it,”
“A cruise ship? You think that’s it?”
Silence.
“Yes, that’s it. That’s the answer to our prayers. That’s the raft,” I paused as I envisioned a cruise ship in my mind. “That’s the God-sized raft I’ve been praying for, for over a year.”
The Spirit of God overwhelmed me in that moment. An infiltrating feeling of hope in a hopeless body, overcame me. My mind raced to the vision God had given me a year prior. The vision of Michael desperately treading in the water when a raft came along and scooped him up.
A raft I’d prayed for. A raft I had spent countless hours asking God to send, not knowing what it was, but knowing it was our help in a helpless situation.
A raft that had now arrived, in the form of a cruise ship.
Fall 2013
“Hey,” I said, “I have some bad news. We have termites.”
Silence.
“You’re kidding.”
He was upset and confused, as was I.
“Well, God’s gonna have to provide, somehow,” he said before we hung up.
When Jill answered the door, the kids ran in to play while she and I walked toward the dining room table to sit down.
“I don’t know, I just don’t know anymore. . .I’m broken. I don’t have anything left.” I said as I put my head down on her dining room table.
Stunned, she sat, listening to the termite story and the wise words of the termite man.
“What? That’s unbelievable. Just think of it like this Rachel, you’ve been chosen,” she said as she smiled.
“Ugh. It sucks then, to be chosen.”
“At this point you’d do anything,” she said as she looked at me in the eyes.
“Yes, anything, I’m so broken, honestly…whatever, wherever, we would do it!”
“Like, if God asked you to go to Africa to work in an orphanage, you would do it.”
“Oh, for sure, we would--we would go,” I said as I looked at her from across the table, “Yes, we would go anywhere, do anything, whatever God wants us to do.”
*****
That evening, after the kids were in bed, I was laying on the couch with a blanket pulled up over my legs. Michael was showering, and I was thinking about all that had happened that day. He came out of our bedroom and was standing at our door, at the foot of the couch, holding his toothbrush.
“How was Jill’s?”
“Good.”
“What all did she say.”
“You know,” I paused, “She said something very interesting today that really took me off guard, made me stop and think.”
“What’s that?”
“I was telling her how broken we were, that we were at the bottom, and that we would do whatever God told us to do, no matter what. She laughed and said, ‘You’d go to Africa and work in an orphanage if He asked you to, wouldn’t you?’” I told her that for sure we would.”
He looked at me.
Silence filled the air.
Then, very intently, he said,
“We should just go get on a cruise ship.”
At that moment, I felt like I’d never felt before. It was a supernatural awakening. It was a Holy Spirit rush through my body. Words of life to a lifeless body.
I sat up.
“What did you say?” I asked, my eyes gazing into his, my entire body revived with a word.
“What?” he said, “A cruise ship. We should all go live on a cruise ship.”
“A cruise ship,” I stopped, feeling like my body had just woken up from a very, very deep sleep, “Oh my gosh, that’s it,”
“A cruise ship? You think that’s it?”
Silence.
“Yes, that’s it. That’s the answer to our prayers. That’s the raft,” I paused as I envisioned a cruise ship in my mind. “That’s the God-sized raft I’ve been praying for, for over a year.”
The Spirit of God overwhelmed me in that moment. An infiltrating feeling of hope in a hopeless body, overcame me. My mind raced to the vision God had given me a year prior. The vision of Michael desperately treading in the water when a raft came along and scooped him up.
A raft I’d prayed for. A raft I had spent countless hours asking God to send, not knowing what it was, but knowing it was our help in a helpless situation.
A raft that had now arrived, in the form of a cruise ship.
RSS Feed