We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. (Hebrews 6:19a NIV)
Every ADVENTure has its moment of suspense.
We embarked on our journey yesterday around noon.
We plan to cover about 50 miles each day, and anchor out most nights except for a couple stops down the way. As we have been boating for about five years now, I trust our navigator (my husband, Les) and I trust our anchor.
Anchoring out on the boat allows us to stay in more secluded locations, which is part of the ADVENTure. We had a few recommended spots from the Active Captain website. The Tom Bigbee waterway is curvy and narrow with no islands to anchor behind like on the Mississippi. Our choices this trip include sandbars, creek inlets and along the shoreline outside the main channel.
It can be a bit intimidating when our little boat encounters large barges with little room to maneuver. So you can see why I was a little nervous about anchoring out in these conditions. But we settled on a creek inlet at dusk with just enough light to lower the anchor.
We settled in for the night. We checked our special radio to see if any barges we coming up or down the river soon, and to my relief no barges were out there. We made it through the night without any barges mistaking us for the shoreline.
In the morning, we enjoyed our coffee in the quiet inlet. After breakfast, we prepared to pull up the anchor.
Les got most of the rope and chain pulled in, when the anchor would NOT budge. It was caught on something, most likely a submerged tree. This was not good.
We jockeyed the boat around using small taps on the throttle to see if we could dislodge the anchor from the snag. Les pulled, I jockeyed the boat. Les alternated between pulling on the anchor and pausing to think; and I prayed for God to give Les wisdom and strength. This went on for several attempts.
At one point, when it looked like we might have to cut our losses, I asked God to send water angels to loosen the anchor. (Not my typical request, but we needed that anchor.) We maneuvered the boat one more time. Our last ditch plan was to increase the power and head the boat towards the shore to see if we could yank the anchor out with force, but instead at that moment, Les decided we should use idle reverse.
The anchor pulled up with ease. I shouted thanks to Jesus with tears in my eyes. He heard my cry. Our anchor held through the night almost too well. And our Jesus and His angels came through in our time of need.
Have you ever noticed how much the angels
were involved around the birth and life of Jesus?
Check out these references in Scripture:
Psalm 91:11
Luke 1:11-20
Luke 1: 26-38
Luke 2:8-15
Matthew 4:11
Here are some photos from the river journey thus far.
souldare 
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