My husband teaches a class once a month in our home. During that class, I usually would go out and meet a friend or two, or stay in my room for the 3 ½ to 4 hours. This particular time, I went to an early dinner with a great friend and came home just in time to see an incredible sunset. The pinks, oranges, purples were all reflected in the calm water of the glassy lake. I decided to go to the dock and enjoy the end of the sunset before I locked myself in my room. Sitting on the edge of the dock, with my feet dangling over the water, I pulled out my phone, took a picture, and was sending it to my friend I had dinner with earlier, when a mosquito bit me on the arm. I went to slap the blood sucking insect, when I knocked my phone from my hand! For a split second I watched my phone gently sway back and forth as it began to sink down further in the water. Without thinking, I jumped in the lake to try and retrieve my phone. Once I hit the water and began swimming to the bottom, I realized that I still had my sunglasses and shoes on, as well as my jeans and a blouse. Unable to reach my phone, I sloshed my way up to the house. I went to the back door, but somehow it was locked. I then had to take the walk of shame, entering the house where my husband and the other men where meeting, soaking wet, dressed in street clothes, wrapped in a towel I found in the garage. My husband looked at me like I was crazy, but so dumbfounded that he couldn’t speak. I paused and told him and the room full of men that I was so so sorry, that I had a little accident and dropped my new phone in the lake. I then explained that it was in a Life Proof case, so I jumped in to try and save it, but I failed. I mopped up the puddle I was standing in while the men in the room strategized on a way to retrieve my phone.
These guys decided to make this a team project to fish my phone from the lake. By now the sun had set and it was completely dark outside. They got a net on a long pole and started dredging the 13 foot water at the end of our dock. One man was holding the feet of another young man who was dangerously hanging off the dock to maneuver the pole with a net. Finally, the young man that had been dangling off the dock said, ‘this is it… if we’re going to get the phone, we need to dive for it!’ He talked my husband into getting him into some trunks and giving that guy a pair to wear. They rushed back down in the dark and made a new plan. One guy would hold the pole with the net straight up and down, touching the bottom. This young man using the pole, would pull himself down to the floor of the lake, and feel for the phone, while someone else would call my phone to see if it would light up the dark waters. Having no luck, my husband repeated the process to the other side of the pole. As he was ready to run out of breath, he felt a rectangle in the mud! Grabbing it he swam to the top. As he was breeching the surface, everyone began to yell! Not only did he find my phone 13 feet under water in the mud after dark, but my phone lit up as someone ‘liked’ my blog post! We lost the net at the end of the pole, but I’ll take that trade, a net for my cell phone!
For me, there were several lessons to be learned from this:
1. Perseverance paid off
2. Team work is dream work
3. My phone was covered and protected
As I sat down to make sure my phone was still functioning properly, I was so grateful that my phone was in a Life Proof case. The biggest lesson I learned that day was that if I didn’t have that Life Proof case on my phone to protect it, the perseverance and team work would not have mattered. God does the same thing for us in our everyday lives. He covers us with His love, He protects us from harm, He keeps us going by showing us grace, and He responds to us when we ask.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10