I Will Praise You in This Storm

How to even begin... We had a wonderful 4th of July (which I will post about later). We also had fun plans for the Monday, July 5th. We rented a pontoon and were going to spend the day on Devils Lake fishing for...whatever it is they stock. I'm not a fisher-person but our children think it's very fun!

Sydney and Braeden spent a lot of the time by the chex mix. Braeden LOVED the M&M's (as you can plainly see from his face). It kept him occupied!

my nephew Aden

my nephew Devin

my baby girl London

my nephew Andrew

These are just a few of the precious people that were on board. We should have known that this was not going to be an ordinary day. After we boarded the pontoon, we set off for a fishing spot that was recommended to us. We were half way to our destination, the waters were a little choppy, and in an effort to reduce the splash my brother, Travis, brought the pontoon to a halt. This action threw one of our coolers with our drinks into the lake. What to do... We circled around a few times (like 5), retrieved the cooler and 98% of the drinks with a fishing net. I can't remember the last time that I laughed so hard!

The next few hours were really enjoyable! We laughed, ate, caught zero fish, and needed to head to shore to use the "potty". This is where our story takes a turn for the worse...

We spent the next hour amid 6-foot waves and a pontoon that took on close to a foot of water. I can honestly say that I've never been so scared in my life. Our children were crying and we were just doing what we could to keep them from being swept overboard by the powerful waves. Of course I prayed and prayed! We, as adults, kept our cool while being petrified on the inside and freezing wet on the outside. We needed to reassure our children that we were going to be okay. I wasn't certain that was true. I don't spend a lot of time on the water but have never experienced anything like this.

Thanks to our awesome ship's captain (and my brother), Nick, we arrived safely at the shore where the waters were calm and the sun was shining. London said that she will never go fishing again, which I hope isn't true. We do this once a year and have had way better luck in the past. I'm very thankful for the protection of our Creator and that He delivered us from the literal storm for which we praise Him!