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Weekly Devotional  We Share God and Hunting/Fishing Story's in our Lives
 
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Welcome to  Bulloch County Sportsmen's Devotional.  Each week, we will send you a new devotional and a photo.
 
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INSTANT PRAYER-INSTANT ANSWER

JEREMIAH 29: 12-13

"Then you will call upon me and

'eome and pray to me, and I willlis'ten to

you.(13) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with al

l your

heart."

There

is no doubt that everyone of us has prayed for a specific answer to

any number of life's challenges and problems- only to realize that God

answers prayers in His timing-His Perfect Timing!

When we lived at the beach, we walked a few miles everyday and use

d that

time as our prayer time. There was a specific spot that jutted way out into

the ocean- It always had a lot of life and activity with seagulls and fish- a

special spot. We stopped at this spot and prayed for specific request each

day.

One hot August day on our way back to the house -about middle way in the

I

sland- a college age girl came up out of the ocean in a kayak screamingcrying,

shou

ting that her brother and a girlfriend were in trouble out in the

ocean- She thought they might have d

rowned. She had made the decision to

try to get back to land and as athletic as she was- she was exhausted.

The hysterical girl managed to point

in the direction offshore where they

had been. She was really upset ,crying, screaming and wanted to go find her

parents. I asked my wife to go with her and call the coast guard in

Cha

rleston or Tybee and ask them to send help. Then pushed out her

kayak and started paddling, hoping that we could find these two other young

people.

Never been in a k efore in my life-those things don't have engines!

The wind was howling SW- any offshore boaters worst nightmare. SW wind

blows straight out from land-the further out you go-the wo

rse the waves

when you try to come in.(lesson well

learned from too many times offshore)

I p

a (fled as har I could- the SW wind pushed me straight out faster than

I could

i that Kayak was flying. After paddling hard for a long

while-I realized that land was out of sight-I could see a little of Edisto

Island

-but Harbor island- where I had left from was gone. There was no

drinking water- no lifejacket-no radio and worst of all-I could not see

another person-kayak or anything-just a lot of water. My arms and back

were screaming-everything hurt. Thirst was unreal

. I was whipped.

I stopped and thought about just giving up and turning around and trying to

get back to land. Then I remembered thinking about all the times in my past

that I had been in the ocean alone trying to find someone-from years

working as a lifeguard-and all of the times while offshore fishing. I also

remembered the outcome of those experiences-I could not quit.

Then - I put down the paddle -closed my eyes and earnestly prayed to God

for help in fmding these young people- When I opened my eyes-

INSTANTLY there was a flash- a reflection like a signal mirror on the

horizon- then it came again- and I started paddling straight towards that

light

. It wasn't long and I could see a person sitting in a kayak- a little while

longer and I had my arms around this young girl

. She was scared to death

and crying uncontrollably- so I just hugged her and calmed her down.

A while latter I asked her how she thought to signal me with her paddleshe

said she hadn't -she remembered moving the paddle from one side to

the other. I tried to assure her that her girl friend was fine and the young

man would be ok too- The truth was I thought that they would be togethershe

told me that the young man's kayak had been turned over and he was

swept away. When she calmed down- we started heading back towards land-

She was able to paddle and stayed right behind me. The wind had stopped

blowing

-the tide had turned and was helping push us back to the hill. We

were making good speed.

About the time we started to see some land -the coast guard helicopter

shows up-with all of the prop wash and the noise it makes it impossible to

talk -but we managed to give them enough sign language to communicate

that we were fine- but needed their help in finding the young man. So they

started searching by doing circles out from us- we kept on paddling-their

circles kept getting bigger and further away. The helicopter went out of

sight for a long time. Then ,after thinking they had gone away-here they

come again

-this time hovering just right above our heads-all of a suddenthe

helicopter prop wash picked the girl and her kayak up and threw her in

the ocean-and the kayak filled with water. The coast guard pilot realized

what was happening and left. Maybe a little more sign language helped with

that decision. I convinced the young girl to just hold on to the back of my

kayak and paddled both of us on into shore. When we got back to land -we

had a pretty good sized crowd-they could see the helicopter and were

interested in the situation. We learned that the coast guard had found the

young man. He washed up on Hunting island- the next Island south- he was

fine a little dehydrated and shaken up but in good shape .His kayak had

been lost. I met His Dad and learned that the Dad was more concerned about

loosing his kayaks than

His children-I'll never forget his attitude- His Name was Sherman and Hewas

a Yankee! I've forgotten the young folks names but not the looks on

their faces. I imagine it was a lot like my own expression in Oliver, Ga. At

the RR tracks.

God can and will answer our prayers- all in His perfect timing

.

Sportsman tip-if you're fishing offshore -learn two knots-that's really all

you need -a bimini twist for tying double leader and a figure 8 knot for

tying hooks to line and line to swivels

.I've never had either one break.

God Bless each one.

Ed Ellis


 

 

Southern Christian Sportsmen's Devotional, Inc.
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