Staying in a private beach house during summer break in 1985, was just what two college girls needed. Annmarie and I got a great deal on the house, and we didn’t care that it had no TV.  Our intentions were to be beach dwellers for the week.

One cloudy day we were surprised to find we were the only people on the beach. “This is totally awesome! We have the whole beach and ocean to ourselves.” We laid on our floats, talking and singing for hours.

“Good grief, this water is dark,” I commented as I looked over the edge of my float. “What time is it?” Annmarie was sporting her new Swatch. (For those of you who don’t know, that is a plastic, waterproof wristwatch that was a hit in the 80’s.) “It’s three o’clock.”  She answered, as I sat up.

“Oh my, gosh!” I screamed with fear as my eyes stared ahead. The buildings were barely visible. We had drifted out to sea.

                                                               Panic!

“We are gonna die!” Annmarie wailed. Instinctively, we both flipped over onto our stomachs, stuck our arms into the water and immediately paddled. However, we were met by stinging tentacles. Quickly we withdrew our arms and looked down. Fear filled my heart as I gazed at what looked like hundreds of jellyfish below, every color and size imaginable. It was unbelievable and horrifying.

“What do we do?” She questioned. “Why are there so many jellyfish!”

“We gotta paddle and get to shore.”

We had no choice, so we paddled frantically. Each stroke of my arm, was met with stings over and over. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed red whelps appearing on my skin. I tried not to think about the documentary I had seen about jellyfish, because I knew somewhere out in this vast ocean were jellyfish so poisonous they could kill you! Looking over at Annmarie, I saw the look of fear. Don’t panic, Annmarie. I know you can barely swim.  

 Overboard

As we continued to paddle, I raised my arm out of the water, exposing a huge jellyfish that had wrapped its tentacles around my arm. Screaming, I flung my arm. It flew through the air, and landed on my back. I thrashed around to knock it off as it was stinging my back. In my frantic movement I fell into the water and my float glided away. Jellyfish stung my entire body. The only thing within reach was Annmarie lying on her float. I quickly climbed on top of her back. We paddled rapidly to my float, and I relocated.

We continued heading towards shore. The further we went, the less jellyfish we saw. But then I saw the dark shadow swim under my float. As the shark passed, my heart sank. We are gonna to die out here, and my mama will never know what happened to me.

I looked to my right and felt even worse. “Annmarie don’t panic. But there’s rain coming.” I said, as I pointed. The wide wall of water moved toward us. “When it gets here, we have to hold on to each other’s float and not let go, no matter what.”

The eerie wall came closer and closer until it was upon us. Cold, hard drops beat down on us. I held tight to her float. The rain was so hard, I couldn’t see if she was still on there. “Don’t let go.” I yelled.

The rain eased up and the jellyfish either washed further out or we had passed them. So we paddled full force, even sliding down toward the bottom of our floats so our feet could kick too. I felt excited as the shore was got closer.

Giving Up

“What time is it?” I asked.

“6:30.” She sighed.

The waves were stronger as we neared the shore. As we struggled to get past them, they tried to pull us back out.

“I quit.” Annmarie stated as she laid her head on the float.

“You can’t quit! You gotta keep going.” I pleaded.

She half-whispered as her exhausted eyes blankly stared at me. “I give up”

I had only one choice. But could I do it?

Sliding into the water, I grabbed the front corner of her float. I swam pulling her along. She quit! I can’t believe she quit. But I can’t leave her. The waves continuously slapped me in the face, but I stayed focused on the shore. My arms and legs began to ache. “Just keep swimming; just keep swimming”. Lord, please help me. Then I thought about my pool. I have swam seventy laps every day this summer for no reason. Thirteen years, and never swam laps. God has prepared me for this. I am a strong swimmer. 

I swam with Annmarie in tow. After four hours, we finally reached the shore. We literally kissed the sand. I called my mama, and she frantically informed me hurricane Elena was headed our way. During the wee hours of the night, we heard a knock on our door. There was an immediate evacuation. We weren’t even allowed to get our belongings!

Focus

As I have grown older, I’ve realized life is the ocean and God is the shore. Someone can be floating along in life, happy as can be, and suddenly things go bad. You realize you are at a place in life you never thought you would be and the jellyfish, sharks, and storms (sickness, family problems, money problems …) come along and try to destroy you. Keep your eyes on God. No matter how many times you get slapped in the face by the waves of life, stay focused on Him. He has already prepared you for what is to come.

-Donna