beyond the bow. . .from Glen

From Glen:

This season has continued a new feature added to our kayaking, a social feature. We took a young couple, Sterling and Sarah, with us last year, and have taken dear friends on our last two trips. Steve and Mark are both devout believers who are examples to Frances and me of love, faith, and devotion to God and to people. Just being with them is a sanctifying experience, and since both are avid outdoors-men, kayaking instantly took to them, and they to it.

Frances and I are greatly blessed in that we enjoy being with each other so much that if you put us on a deserted island with little more than shelter, water (with a bit of coffee, please), food, and chocolate, we could be joyfully content forever. Most of our kayaking adventures have therefore been with each other, and with only each other. The experience is so blessed that I have written two songs about it (both are on our last CD), and if you haven't seen a sunrise with Frances, well, I'm tempted to say you haven't seen a sunrise!

Still, it is also wonderful to share with others the gift kayaking is to us. It began with our daughter Marie, who first bought a kayak while in law school. We bought three boats not long afterward, and our first voyages included our youngest daughter Emmie in her kayak, Bonnie Blue (she insisted that we name our boats. Frances is called Ruby Slippers, and mine, Emerald Rainbow). Our son Noah came with once, and witnessed our only capsizing (yours truly, of course). He and Frances assure me that they didn't laugh at my misfortune, but I am convinced that as the angel said to Sarah, "Thou didst laugh!" We loved our kayaking time with our children, and Lord willing, look forward to future excursions with them (and down the river a bit, with our grandchildren). Presently, however, their increasingly busy lives rarely coordinate with our increasingly busy lives, so there's very little opportunity to sail with Marie, Noah, and Emmie.

This has made our paddling trips with Sterling and Sara, and Mark and Steve a great blessing. Life is to be shared, especially with fellow believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and adding the social aspect to our beloved pastime has been and will be the fulfillment of the Psalmist's sublime exultation:

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments" (Psalm 133:1-2).

I love this imagery, and am so often blessed to experience the heart reality of it with fellow believers. I cannot image what my life would have been like if lived away from the "precious ointment" of Christ's love as revealed through those who love Him, and who have loved me as the expression of their devotion to the Lord Jesus. It is the most amazingly wonderful thing in this life, and then to think that the gift of Christian fellowship and friendship is an eternal reality, well... well... Whew!

If you're reading this, consider it an invitation to join us some Saturday morning, perhaps before the sun rises, or perhaps after. Whatever the case, Frances and I will be honored and blessed, as we have been recently, to share our journeys "beyond the bow " with friends who are "closer than a brother."

September 2nd

We'll Sail This Morning