A writer I enjoy, Barbara Brown Taylor, was on a barrier island where loggerhead turtles were laying their eggs. One night while the tide was out she watched a huge female heave herself up the beach to dig her nest and empty herself into it. Not wanting to disturb her, Barbara Brown Taylor went back to her hotel.
The next morning she returned to the same spot and noticed that the turtle, instead of returning to the sea, had become disoriented and had wandered into the dunes which were already hot as asphalt in the morning sun.
A little ways inland, Barbara Brown Taylor found her exhausted and all but baked. Her head and flippers were caked with dried sand. After pouring water on her she left and found a park ranger who returned with his jeep to rescue her.
As Barbara Brown Taylor watched, the ranger flipped the turtle over an her back, wrapped tire chains around her legs, and hooked the chains to his trailer hitch on his jeep. Then he took off, yanking her body forward so fast that her open mouth filled with sand and then disappeared underneath her as her neck bent so far that Barbara Brown Taylor feared it would break.
The ranger hauled her over the dunes and down onto the beach. He unhooked her and turned her over again. She lay motionless in the surf as the water lapped at her body, washing the sand from her eyes and mouth.
Then a particularly large wave broke over her and she lifted her head slightly. With every fresh wave she seemed to revive. Watching her swim away and remembering her nightmare ride through the dunes, Barbara Brown Taylor noted that it is sometimes hard to tell whether you are being killed or being saved by the hands that turned your life upside down.
Precious friends, if you are presently being drug through the dunes, never doubt that you are in ‘good’ hands. Remind yourself daily that you have been written into a good story, by a good God, who guarantees a good ending. This journey is worth the rough ride.
Richard
Sometimes I can relate to the sea turtle in the story I get flipped over on my “back”concentrating on poor me and all my problems; yet I am holding on tight to me and mine!! I’m sorry about me thoughts I’ll share with anyone around until they start avoiding me;I’m a slow learner sometimes and do not always remember how I solved my problem. Then a kind person calls the park ranger “Jesus” and He pulls me from the shifting sand “those trying to lead me astray” With Thankful heart I am by the living water where I free of my “poor me- pitiful me” Now I can rejoin my family joyfully!!
What a great way to start my day with your Blog and this encouraging story!!
What a touching story. The timing is DIVINE for me in my life. Thank you, Richard, for your uplifting blog and for this particular one. You are STILL my pastor, yes, my FAVORITE PASTOR, and I am forever grateful for you and your beautiful family and what you mean to me!!! I am truly blessed!!!
Love and Prayers,
Kim (YFM)…. : )