I want to share something God reminded me of while being tossed at sea on our way to Victoria, Canada from Seattle by boat.

I have come to realize that one of the hardest things, and ironically so, the easiest thing, for me to do in my walk with the Lord is to keep my eyes focused on Him and not my circumstances. It is always a struggle to keep my eyes off my circumstances because they seem to always be right there in front of my face demanding my attention! But then once I cross that line, and surrender, giving my full attention to God, I find rest. I find peace amidst a storm in my life. And I can’t take my eyes off Him.

When we got off that boat in Victoria, I turned to Dave and said, “That boat ride was a little more than I bargained for!” Getting on the boat, I expected a nice, calm, little ferry ride up to Canada. It was anything but that! It started that way but then about an hour or so into the journey, the waters were beginning to get rough and the boat ride wasn’t so smooth anymore. Then the captain comes on over the intercom to inform everyone that it is a little windier than expect and it is going to be a bumpy ride. Keep your eyes on the horizon, came to my mind. I remember hearing that from somewhere. So for the remainder of the boat ride, my eyes were fixed on the horizon and my ears were plugged with Dave’s IPod so I couldn’t hear anything going on in the boat.

What a difference that made! No longer was my focus on the rocky boat, the swirling sea surrounding me, the child a couple rows back who was finding great use for his motion sickness bag, and the poor child who fell to the floor of the boat wailing, “I hate this! I want off! I can’t stand this!” (Fortunately, that child found comfort on the floor because that is where she lay, silent, for the remainder of the trip until we docked.) With my eyes fixed on the horizon, I was able to enjoy the beautiful scenery instead of focus on being tossed around at sea.

On our journey through this first cycle of IUI I sometimes find myself worried, doubtful that it will work or afraid. At these times my eyes are focused on the storm. When I remind myself to focus on the horizon, to put my eyes on God, I can find rest and peace. My eyes are transfixed on the mighty God we serve and His glory and power. The fears of the storm are gone. My eyes are fixed on the horizon, and I see a beautiful picture of God’s faithfulness in my past and I am anxious to see how he will carry me through this storm.

Even though I wasn’t too happy about that boat ride, I was thankful for the reminder God gave me. And I did do some serious praying once we arrived in Victoria for a smooth ride home. All day I kept looking at the flags and trees to see if the wind had died down some. It continued to blow all day. I boarded the boat back to Seattle very apprehensive, not wanting to experience another ride like before! And I just kept praying for God to calm the waters. He did!! The ride back to Seattle was the nice, calm, little ferry ride I had expected from the start!

I’m sure you are wondering how Dave fared the boat ride. When it got rough I looked over at him for a split second to see how he was and the guy was asleep! So I guess maybe it wasn’t as rough as I perceived it to be. But then again, all this comes from the girl who, if she went to Disney, the only ride she would ride would be, “It’s A Small World”!

- Elaine