Sailing on lake Ontario

I spent last night with the recently discovered uncle of a family we have been helping through the Boaz Ministry. We had a great time talking about the new found family he has and the miracle of God that has brought this into reality. I had never met this gentleman until last night we had only chatted on the internet a couple of times.


In this type of ministry it is important to spend time with people and to discover who they are. One way to do this is do something together. Don is an avid sailor, not a drunken sailor, and he is very well respected in the sailing community. Each person I talked with told me what an incredibly nice man he is. I saw that first hand.


I had never been sailing before and my goal on this trip and any trip I do outside of Fredericton is to do something that is not "comfortable". I want to do new experiences and in order to do that it requires stepping out of what  is safe and easy. Don was such an amazing host and he loaned me all the gear I needed. We then prepared the sailboat, actually he prepared it, and we headed out on Lake Ontario. The winds were very calm and the sailing was easy.

Calm  before the big waves, beautiful!

After we were on the water for about 15 minutes Don said "we are going to get some heavy winds". I asked him how he knew that and he responded "I can see it in the distance on the waves". Sure enough within 20 seconds the wind picked up big time. I wasn't scared because I trusted Don that he knew what he was doing. He set a direction for the boat and we went directly into the wind. After about 15 minutes of this intense waves things died down as we entered into the safety of the harbor.

Safety of the harbor

Here is what I learned:

• It is important to know where the wind is going
• I need to trust someone other than myself
• Sometimes in life you have to meet your challenges head on
• It is safe in the harbour but the real fun is in the battle

What is the application?

• I need to spend time with Him so I can know where He is going
• I need to trust Him as my captain in all things
• We shouldn't run away from challenges, cuz eventaully they will catch us and flip us over
• I would rather not play life safe!

I would sail again with Don. He was great to be with and he will be a great uncle for these kids. He and I will also be friends for a lengthy time, we really connected!