2nd Annual Priest/Laurel Canoe Trip

Once upon a Saturday, a group of brave priests and laurels along with four highly trained and extremely fit leaders drove to the land of mesquite and put their floating vessels in the raging river. This particular year the river had doubled in width and had white capped waves here and there, not exactly the calm river they had floated down the year prior.
But this fearless bunch would not be put off by that….in they got and within a minute and a half the first group (who I knew personally)…..tipped and faced sure death in the face, a slight exaggeration but nonetheless super scary! At that point that particular young women leader thought it would have been an excellent idea to bring her wetsuit because the water was a fridged 50 some degrees.
It didn’t take long for the six canoes to hit trouble. About 20 minutes in, the same canoe (that I have very personal connections to) got caught on a beaver dam, mostly because the female leader was trying to convince the overexcited priest to wait for the others……and they tipped……and the canoe started to fill…..and the two were swept away in the darn raging waters.
After minutes of trying to unplug the canoe and get it out of the water, other leaders came to the rescue! In the words of Bob the builder, WE CAN DO IT…… Push and pull and push some more, but the canoe was not moving. Then a wise bishop said “Lets have a prayer” As the five of them stood on the dam, shivering from the cold, the priest offered a prayer for help. No sooner had the prayer ended than the all wise bishop suggested they use one of the other canoes to help pull the submerged one out. Heave, ho, heave, ho…..Who knew that the new beehive young women leader was super strong until she flung herself into the water on one of the tugs and out came the canoe – VICORY! Onward brave souls…….. this one particular new female leader would soon face death in the face herself……
They decided it was best to pull off to the side when certain sketchy areas arose and to try to stay together…….umm but that was a problem because a highly motivated team with the somewhat unfair advantage of three people in their canoe (just joking) had gone ahead without any problems at all. The young women president was worried about them and hoped they were ok.
So as the group stood on the side of the riverbank, the last team came into view. It was the new beehive leader and the highly athletic soon to be priest. “It’s ok, don’t panic” shouted the wise bishop…..”stay the course…..keep your balance” They were drifting left when they needed to be right. In they slammed to what was later described as “the biggest tree in the river”. The female leader was stuck, legs twisteed in the branches and for a couple of seconds, which seemed so much longer, the soon to be priest disappeared. This was the scariest moment of everyones day. All leaders ran into the water…..”Go” yelled the bishop. Then a lifevest bobbed up….he’s ok. PHEW…. They were sure glad they had had that prayer before entering the river!
It seemed like an eternity to figure out how to get everyone back together. With a little work and the lead of the all knowing bishop, the team was on their way again with no alternative because they were at least five miles from the truck with the food……and it had been about four hours since they began their journey!
An answer to prayer came in the form of a random man on some sort of dune buggy who took the battered priest along with the beehive leader to the safety of the highway to find the truck while the rest of the group went on. They soon caught up with the missing three who had been waiting for over an hour on a bank wondering if they had taken a wrong turn somewhere. They too had had some unfortunate events and one of the priests was stuck to his knees in sinking mud. With the help of the trusty bishop and other young men they helped the poor kid out. Will this day ever end…..one tired young women leader thought to herself. But her spirits were soon lifted with the awkward singing of her highly skilled partner, a priest who was now manning the canoe alone because she had lost her ore!
The song ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS…..came to mind and thoughts of the pioneers floated around her head. At least today there would be an end in sight. She was sure by now the two who had gotten the ride to the truck had prepped the food and where ready to greet them with arms full of yummy hoagie sandwiches but alas this was not the case because they had been dropped off at the wrong location and were walking along the scorching hot freeway ……
The stranded two had a prayer and unbelievably the stranger who had taken them from the river, turned around when he got to his home, prompted that maybe he had dropped them off at the wrong location…….a true answer to prayer.
So as the little band of brave canoers pulled their canoes out of the water and sat in the sun for a moment, socks chucked, clothes destroyed with mud, pink in the face and shoulders from the sun, the question posed at the beginning of their journey……”how will this adventure parallel life”…….the young women leader pondered and hesitated to share her initial thought.
A more uplifting one quickly came to mind...........that life, though difficult and impossible at times, is doable with prayer, friends & family, a good bishop and some sunscreen.