We got a good scare yesterday at the beach. Our first ever, and we praise God that it ended as well as it did. But goodness. I did not care for it. Not one bit.
We were at the beach for an evening swim with our friends. It was a last minute decision to go for a short stretch at the beach. The water isn’t especially deep up to the dock, so life jackets weren’t a priority in this case. They only wear them when they’re going out past the docks, which none of our kids planned on doing.
Everyone was having a good time together when a small floaty toy got away from the kids. Rowan came and asked if he could retrieve it in a kayak. It was past the docks, but it was just beside the boats, so it was mere feet past our usual cutoff. So I okayed it.
And I shouldn’t have.
Rowan misjudged how close he needed to be. He leaned far out of his kayak to reach the toy, and over he went. Brady saw it the moment it happened. He alerted me that Rowan had flipped his kayak. And sure enough, there he was, clinging to his upside down kayak for dear life, screaming for help.
And then he went under.
I was already running. Now, I cannot swim. Not well, at least. Definitely not well enough to save someone who was drowning. But what else was I going to do??
As I ran, Rowan sprung out of the water, having jumped off the bottom of the lake. He caught a breath and immediately went right back under. Not a single sound. He definitely could NOT touch.
I kept running, pushing myself through the water as fast as I could. Avery was beside me, in her life jacket, swimming like crazy toward Rowan. I’m sure he was only under for seconds at a time but it felt like an eternity. He wasn’t coming up as often as he should’ve been.
I finally reached him and praise God, I could touch, and I grabbed him up out of the water without putting us both in harms way. He got his head above water, was dead silent for a couple seconds before he started howling and spitting and just crying and crying. It was like a newborn baby’s first cry.
He koala beared me, and we walked slowly back to the beach. He was terrified and so was I. I was trying to drag the kayak back alongside us, but Avery quietly said “leave the boat, I have it” and I did. I don’t even know if I thanked her. Thank you, Avery. You were brave.
So was Rowan. We clung hard to each other for a good while once we were out of the water. Brady wrapped us in towels and we just reassured Rowan and thanked the Lord for his safety. At one point, he mourned the loss of his sunglasses that had fallen off his hat. Well you had better believe those kids all got together and sent out a search party, eventually recovering both Rowans sunglasses, and a sheet of cough candies that escaped my pocket.
Rowan was so frightened. He stayed VERY close to me for the rest of the evening, and this morning, he opted out of playing in the water. I don’t blame him. But he’ll be back 💜
Thank you, dear Lord, for protecting sweet Rowan at the lake. I don’t know what we would do without that boy in our family.
I am so relieved and grateful for Your mercy.