Crisis and Adjustment

As a child I spent much time in a canoe on lakes with my dad. He'd be in the stern (back end) of the canoe, while I manned the bow (front end). I became pretty proficient at what was then called the "bow stroke" with a canoe paddle. With one hand over the handle of the paddle, the other hand gripping the paddle just above the blade, and keeping the latter arm straight, I would reach as far as I could into the water ahead of me. I would then bring the blade in a straight arm pull through the water, providing the vessel with power. My father would add power in the stern, but his primary job was to take charge of guidance for the canoe. As a power and guidance combination, we were a pretty good team in a canoe. (Once we even won a father/son canoe race at a YMCA family camp.)

When I was 12 years old I started formal training in river canoeing. I hoped to continue my role in the bow of the boat, providing the power, while someone else did the navigating from the stern. However, my new instructors wanted us all to learn how govern the stern of a canoe. They taught us what was called the "J-stroke." This stroke involves a push-away move with the paddle blade, gauged as needed to guide the vessel. It was more complicated than the bow stroke, and I wasn't anxious to use it. The bow stroke provided more comfort for me.

I remember the first time I was put in the stern of a canoe on an Ozark river. I'll never forget coming up on my first set of rapids. It was a crisis moment that demanded immediate adjustment. My bowman would provide the power through the swift rocky water. I had to decide right then and there if my teachers were trustworthy and if I could adjust to using a totally new and different paddle stroke for me.

Long story short - 40+ years later, the J-stroke is as natural to me as breathing. I can't imagine my outdoor recreational life without it. I never would have embraced it, though, had a crisis moment not challenged me to make an adjustment.

"Crisis" does not mean something bad, necessarily. It means being brought to a point of decision, at which we will have to make an adjustment. To become the Jesus-followers God longs for us to be, God will bring us to such moments. They may seem overwhelming and impossible at the time, but they will help us to decide just how much we trust a God who loves us better than we love ourselves.

I really need to get on a river soon, or you all will start hearing more river canoeing metaphors than you can stand. I'll see you around the next bend.