felt the icy waters of the Ichetucknee River today

Psalm 30:5--"...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

To me it feels a little like plunging yourself into a glass of ice water--going tubing in the Ichetucknee, that is.

I just tucked the six year old in bed with kisses and prayers. That was the event I had eagerly waited for since mid morning today. His day started with excitement about a trip with friends. But when we reached the Ichetucknee River and the 40% chance of rain became definite for us, he just looked at me in that boat waiting for him to join me and simply shook his head "no."

Of course, he had no choice, no other options, so he ended up in that leaking boat with me sitting in about 3 inches of icy cold water, floating down a river, exposed to the elements and the elements making their presence known with lightning and a drenching downpour. Poor little fella had just wanted to have a fun day, but then he was sitting there with no head cover, freezing from the top from cold rain and freezing from the bottom from icy river water, little lips shivering as he said "I want to go home" and I couldn't do anything to make him more comfortable. All I could do was reassure him that we were going there after we got out of the boat, never mentioning that he wasn't leaving it for a few hours.

I thought about how I could hardly wait for tonight when I would tuck him in with his cozy covers and have him safe and warm.

Well, the rain calmed down and the sun peaked through a couple of times. There was a picnic lunch. He got a new partner in the boat, big brother, Jake, who made it more fun. They created waves with the boat and splashed everyone with their oar. By the time he left, he had decided he wanted to be a diver and talked about what a great time he had.

I don't know if he had forgotten the earlier misery, but apparently it had become less of a focal point because he was now enjoying the fun that had come after.

Maybe we're supposed to do that too. Sometimes we go through tough times early in life, but when the LORD brings us through them, why hang on to the misery of what had been? I've been blessed beyond my greatest dreams since the times of hurts and fears. I still remember them and have grown a lot because of them, but I'm not experiencing pain like that now and I'm free to enjoy the blessings He's given me. It's taken me a lot longer to learn this than it apparently took Ethan. As I tucked him in a few minutes ago, he was still talking about his great day and never even mentioned rain, cold, and misery, just how much fun his day was.

Job 42:12--"So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning..."