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 all 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 used that time as our prayer time. There was a specific spot that jutted way out intothe ocean- It always had a lot of life and activity with seagulls and fish- aspecial spot. We stopped at this spot and prayed for specific request eachday.One hot August day on our way back to the house -about middle way in theIsland- a college age girl came up out of the ocean in a kayak screamingcrying, shouting that her brother and agirlfriend were in trouble out in the ocean- She thought they might have drowned. 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 herparents. I asked my wife to go with her and call the coast guard inCharleston 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 windblows straight out from land-the further out you go-the worse the waves when you try to come in.(lesson well learned from too many times offshore) I pa (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 EdistoIsland-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 seeanother person-kayak or anything-just a lot of water. My arms and backwere screaming-everything hurt. Thirst was unreal. I was whipped. I stopped and thought about just giving up and turning around and trying toget back to land. Then I remembered thinking about all the times in my pastthat 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 alsoremembered the outcome of those experiences-I could not quit.Then - I put down the paddle -closed my eyes and earnestly prayed to Godfor 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 thatlight. 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 ka yak 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 totalk -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 wereinterested 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 hadbeen 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 fortying hooks to line and line to swivels .I've never had either one break.
God Bless each one.
Ed Ellis
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