My little adventure started out because I was bored. Needless to stay, I didn’t stay bored long.
I guess you could say it was a prefect Sunday afternoon. The temperature was pleasant and there was plenty of sunshine. Tim and I were with some friends and family on the banks of Bull Run Creek. He and his sister were fishing while his parents were chilled out in their lawn chairs. As for me, I couldn’t just sit there in a lawn chair and relax. Sitting still isn’t my thing.
This time we were not on my Papaw’s land, instead, we were on a friend’s property. This friend asked if anybody wanted to go with him to check on his cows. I jumped at the chance as did my mom. The three of us piled into the truck cab and went across the field. That was much better to me, until we came back to Bull Run Creek. We were so far down the creek that we couldn’t see the people we had left behind.
“There’s no bridge. How are you going to get across?” I asked.
“We’re driving across in the truck. I do it all the time. It’s not very deep right here.” With that, he drove across the creek. After he finished with his cows, he asked, “Hey, how about we drive back down in the creek?”
“In the creek?” Mom and I asked at the same time.
“Yeah, I’ll drive the truck straight down the middle.”
“Isn’t the water too deep?” My mom was and still is very scared of water. Actually, I think the word terrified better describes it. She won’t even run a lot of water in the tub for her bath.
“Naww.” He waved his hand. “I think it’ll be okay.” He proceeded to drive his truck down the bank and into the creek. At first, I thought it was a fun little adventure. I had been baptized in that creek and I had fallen in it, but I had never ever been in the middle of it while riding in a truck.
“The water is getting higher!” I could hear the fear in my mom’s voice. Leaning up, I looked out her door. She was right. The water level on the truck was rising. And it continued to do so. At that point, my fun adventure turned into a stressful one. For the record, I wasn’t worried about myself. I learned to swim many, many years ago, but I was worried about how upset my mother was becoming as the water continued to rise. It even rose up past the door handle. At that point, it realized we were literally up a creek without a paddle.
“Therefore whosoever heareth these saying of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” Matthew 7:24-25 (KJV)
I have to give kudos to my mother. Even though she was terrified, she managed to keep a somewhat cool head about her. I think one reason for that was the strength of her foundation of faith. As in the verse, it like a rock. What is your foundation built upon?
Once we were safely out of Bull Run Creek, we drove back across the field to Tim and his family. When we told them of our watery ordeal, they just looked at us. Tim finally said, “At least you didn’t mess up the fishing.”
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.