Rolling on the River

 

Rolling on the River

A famous song popular in the 1970s repeats the phrase "Rolling on the River" a number of times (the song is Proud Mary).  Well, we had a grand time rolling on the river a few weeks ago on a lovely three-hour cruise with good friends.

Friends who live in this lovely riverside home, kindly invited several of us on an afternoon ride in their motorboat.  God gave us a perfect weather day for the event.  It was wonderful!

Zipping across the water with the wind whipping through your hair feels so free and exciting!  Sometimes we bounced across the rippling wake of another boat and it felt like an amusement park ride, other times we slowly glided through "no wake" zones.  An unexpected delight was coming across a large pod of dolphins.  We stopped and watched them perform synchronized leaps and dives together, never knowing where they would appear next.  It was hard to capture on film, but I managed a couple of glimpses of these elegant creatures.  What a grand display of God's glorious nature!

We saw beautiful riverfront homes and lots of commercial shipping places.  Our area is loaded with commercial and military shipping locations.

I'm reminded of verses I used in another recent post: "Those who go down to the sea in ships...they see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.  For He commands and raises the stormy wind...He calms the storm, so that its waves are still...So He guides them to their desired haven.  Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" Psalm 107.

Here are a few waterfront sights we saw.  I've always liked tugboats and I think this one is quite handsome.  Then we saw a fisherman, looking relaxed as he sits beside the river.  Wonder if he caught any fish?

We went under a number of bridges.  When rivers and inlets wind all through your cities, you can expect many bridges.  Interestingly, they all have a bit of a different appearance from below.  

This handsome building was built as a Marine hospital back in the 1920s, and later used as a Naval hospital, before serving in various other capacities over the years.  We miss this distinctive view of the building from the street side. Seeing familiar locations from the water offers an entirely different perspective.

We're reminded how seeing things in this world and in our lives from Heaven's view offers us an entirely different perspective as well.  It's true we can't fully understand God's way of doing things, as God says in Isaiah 55:8-9, "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.'"

Nevertheless, if we purposely stop and consider what goes on in our lives and the world around us, and look at it from Heaven's view, we will have a different perspective -- a different attitude and understanding.  Paul wrote, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" 2 Corinthians 3:18.

And so, rolling on the river provided a beautiful afternoon on many levels.  Thank you, Lord, for the enjoyment of friends and the beauty of your wonderful nature!