kayaking fear

by Eddie Broussard on Jul.19, 2009, under Fun

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upperGREEN962008 It never goes away.

The fear I get as we are driving to the river…the fear getting ready to put on a river I have never paddled before…the fear as I approach the next rapid on the river. For some reason that fear never goes away.

Kayaking is a sport that only a few people seem to have a spirit for. Whitewater kayaking narrows that small group even more. I love the outdoors and I love the water. A flowing river for me means a lot of things. Its kind of an intersection of the beauty of God’s creation and the challenges of the life that we live in that created world (geez that was deep). For some reason…that is way down in my soul…I am drawn to that intersection.

I have paddled “flatwater” for about five or six years. But I started kayaking “whitewater” about a year ago. The best way to explain the difference between the two is like the difference between checkers and chess. On flatwater you simply paddle around. Which can be very relaxing and enjoyable. In a whitewater kayak your success comes from knowing what the water is doing (primarily under the surface), pre-planning your position, and executing the skills. Oh yea…there are some split second reaction requirements too.

There are many parallels that can be made between paddling a river and living this life. Most of us love to paddle around and soak in “consume” the things around us. Whitewater paddling on the other hand has shown me how to overcome my fears and do something bold, scary or uncommon. Truly living for Christ in this world is uncommon. Many of us call ourselves Christian…but few are bold enough to break through our fears and live it.

Let’s go paddling together this weekend!