Capsized!

We were going over!  Totally capsizing in the icy waters of Lake Arrowhead.I always thought of sailing as one of the ultimate romantic endeavors.   So I was really looking forward to this fun outing, filled with adventure and surrounded by mountain beauty.  I knew I didn’t really know much about sailing, but I thought Brian did.  I was mistaken.Not to worry.  A little dunking would certainly make it more memorable--a great story to tell.   We righted the little boat, climbed back aboard and caught the wind.  And over we went.  Ha, Ha.  We will laugh about this later.  Back up, back on board, wind at our back.  And over we went.  Not laughing any more.A passing boater took pity on us, righted the boat, tied it to his and helped pull us, soaking and bedraggled, into his motor boat.  Off we went back to the marina.The marina guys took one look at us and laughed.  Then they took one look at the boat and snickered.“You lost the centerboard,” they said.“The what?” we asked.“The centerboard.  It’s the board that goes below the boat and centers it—stabilizes it.  The boat won’t stay up long without the centerboard.”The analogy is so obvious.  We must be centered, stablilized, in our lives if we are to stay afloat and get where we want to go.  Without a centerboard, we will keep going over.  Surely in storms, when big waves hit, but even the little ripples can capsize a boat with no centerboard.Though there are people and missions and values and beliefs that can all help keep us centered, the true centerboard for our lives is Jesus.“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by him all things were created…through Him and for Him….He is before all things, and in him all things hold together….  (Colossians 1:15-16,19-20)We were created by Him and for Him—Jesus Himself holds us and all the circumstances of our lives together.  When He is in His rightful place in our lives—at the center, filling us up, in control—we can weather any storm, keep on the right course, sail confidently into the future and reach the destination for which He created us.The moral:  Don’t lose your centerboard.c Judy Douglass 2010