Two Rafts, Eight Kids, Hot Weather . . .

And a totally fun river.


The rafts were slightly unequal, a Sturdy, Competent Self-Bailer and a Little Raft. Shelly and I were in the SCSB, with Skye as our valiant captain, and Ster and Josh as our oarsmen.
Tal, Thom and Forrest were in the LR ahead of the rest of us, leading the charge!
Fortunately we managed to make it under the bridge, and wave at the driver before a calamity struck.

The LR was zipping along, smoothly cresting and falling, taunting the large rapids, practically daring them to . . . . .

Uh oh! Flip her!

Sterling caught a glimpse of the raft just as it tipped, and shouted “OH NO! They tipped over!” Right then we went into the chain of rapids that had done the dastardly deed; a particularly mean beast was the runner up, and at one point all you could see was a wall of water looming over the five of us.

Tal managed to swim to shore, and we picked him up and then tried to catch Forrest and Thom who were holding onto the raft. We never did really catch them; they managed to beach the boat and we landed nearby. They were so cold! Fortunately the three river rats had wet suits on. We stood around in the sun for a while, letting Thomas and Austin get warmed up again. Austin had lost his paddle and our Valiant Captain told Shelly since she was acting Lieutenant, it was HER job to find the paddle. Our Intrepid Lieutenant spotted it . . . in some weeds . . . on the other side of the river.

About half way down, Steve met us and we gave him the little raft that flipped, and let him take Austin and Tallis, and the rest of us went on down the river. You thought the first part of this story was exciting? HA! We conquered the Hole in The Wall, AND the Eileen Dam.

Eileen used to cross the river as nearly all good dams do, and someone blew up one of her ends, so you must make about three really sharp hairpin turns in quick succession, and there are some huge rapids. As we pushed and shoved our way around the 2nd pin, cresting one of the larger piles of water, Josh fell out! But he was a good guy and hung onto the raft rope AND his paddle!! The Hole in The Wall, was almost completely cover with water, amazing! Next time we go, the river will be lower, so we can gauge the level of hmmmm, water dropage? :-)


And at BA Beach we hailed our driver just hopping out of the truck. The Moyie was so high, we made it down in record time. In spite of the river's best efforts, we all crawled out to meet him; wet, extremely cold and happy to be on dry land!

EURO 2008

Hopp Schwiiz, Hopp Schwiiz !!!

Right now in Switzerland and Austria is the European cup 2008 going. Switzerland is in BIG excitement. The Swiss team is not very good compared with other teams from Europe. But since we are the organizer we are qualified for the games. Many cars on the road have the Swiss flag on the roof. When you go shopping you see that nice red-white sign everywhere. In the news paper it's all about EURO 08. People try to get a last ticket for one of the games. The TV at home is not good enough to watch the game so they go to see it on a huge screen in town. There is actually not enough room for all the fans. And all the shops and hotels are happy and think they can make a lot of money out of this event. In preparation for this the government commended that we have to be friendly and told us even how we can do that. So we are all well prepared and friendly, provided with beer and chips and hopefully with a fist class ticket for the opening game.

And then, the day has come. The big day for which everyone was waiting for; 7th of June 2008, 18:00, the start of the fist game, Switzerland against Czechia. Hopp Schwiiz, hopp Schwiiz... More than 40'000 people are watching the game live in the stadium. And there they go. 22 young men running on the field like crazy.
I was surprised form the Swiss team how well they played. Switzerland has some very good chances to score. They play definitively better than Czechia. But no goal yet. And then minute 42, a foul against Switzerland. Alex Frei is injured! NOOOOO not him. Hi is the captain of the team and the best player, the one who is supposed to score :-0 It looks rather bad. He can't play anymore. He hobbles off the field and the game goes on. But no one scored the first half. Second half; there is much hope for the Swiss team to win. Hopp Schwiiz!!! And then... pause for breath ... minute 71. Toooooooor!!!! Eins zu Null für Tschechien. That's no good. Hopp Schwiiz! Go and score, you are supposed to win have you forgotten? Poor guys, they give their best and play very well but do NOT score the entire game :-( We lost the game and the points. 2 more games to to play with probable less chances to win. When we lose again, we are out.
They analyzed the game and all the people from the TV, news paper, the players and other "smart" people agree that Switzerland played better than Czechia. Well done, Switzerland. But, wait a second, didn't you just say Czechia won the game? Why didn't Switzerland win since they played better? No easier question than this; They didn't score!

That's life. When you don't score you don't win. So, what is it that we can win in our life? Is it money, honor, time, health, friends, property, position, war...? All people try to win. And each one has his own way how he will score. Some ways are not very effective, some are unfair, some are never ending, some are hopeless, some are very hard and some are complicated. From some people you have to say; "Look at him, he won." "he plays better than others." "This is how you do it."
The problem is, there are rules of the game. These rules tell you exactly how you can score and what doesn't count. On the soccer field there is the referee who makes sure everyone plays after to rules. If you don't, like we did, you get the yellow card. We got 3 in one game :-( So when you try to score a goal with your own rules the referee tells you NO, and it doesn't count. If you want to win you have to play after his rules.
The same applies for our life. When you want to win life you have to play after his rules. Who is HE? Who is the real referee of life? The Bible gives us a clear answer on this question. "And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God himself is judge." Psalm 50:6 God is the true and only referee. And by him there is only one way to score. "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6 Only when we believe in Jesus Christ we can win. There is NO option, none! Some people think when they live a good life they could win the game. But did Switzerland win???
Believe it or not, but when you don't score without foul you can't win ever. I'm not a big soccer fan so I am not sad about that game. But I do care a LOT about myself, you can call me selfish, and I want to win life. This is not "just" a game, it is about life and dead! There is not team which helps you to win, only you. There is a great book that tells you everything you need to know about life, it is The Bible. The author is God himself.

"Thank you LORD."

The right way!

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." Psalm 23:4

At the moment I feel like I'm walking through a dark valley. I am on the way but I don't see where I am going really. And is dark so that I don't see the end of this part of my way. Maybe I have to walk like this for many miles still and perhaps I am almost there. Sometimes the trail is very rough, and I don't see where I go and suddenly I find myself flat on the ground. That hurts! It takes time to recover and doesn't make the way shorter. Sometimes I ask if this is my right way to go. Who could I ask, where can I get help from? I feel lonely, no one else is going the same path with me.
Really ? How do I know when it is dark? Why did I fall only once so far? And why was I able to get up by "myself" ? Why have I not lost the way? Why have I hope and faith that I go the right direction? Where do I get the energy to keep on going?
Because of Psalm 23. Because I am really NOT alone. God is with me on this trail. And he knows exactly where it is going. He knows how much further and how steep it is. I can't see this but thank God I can read it in my Bible. He loves me and cares for me. Nothing and no one can separate me from his love, Rom 8:38-39.
Do I really believe this? Yes, I want to. And what can be better than being with God? What is better, to wait alone at the end until God is through the dark valley or to walk together with God through the valley and learn who he is and grow in faith?
The way to heaven is not that wide, smooth, easy freeway on which most people go. But it is narrow and not many people find it, Matt. 7:14.

"But he who stands firm to the end will be saved." Matt. 10:22