Sunrise at Payette Lake, McCall, Idaho
I am genuinely grateful
I am alive to give you greetings,
This is a
somewhat different update, but an update nonetheless.
kayaking
I almost died on Tuesday May 8 of 2007 due to
a rather stupid kayaking adventure, and it was only by God’s grace, power, and
desire for my life to continue that I am here writing to you today.
I am a witness to the truth our Lord still
performs in the miraculous.
It began as any other crazy day I awake to: I open my eyes, step out into the warmth and
effulgence of the sun, and choose from a large variety of outdoor activities to
have fun with for that day. I decide to
paddle a while in my 12-foot lake kayak on Payette
Lake. After a bit of sunscreen, I paddle for about
an hour, take a glorious hour nap on a displaced dock floating in the middle of
the lake, and paddle to the city beach for another hour of kayaking. My local youth pastor and friend Chris
Thurman happens to be there. We talk a
while until we decide to paddle down a local calm river together, and you’re
asking how this turned into a near death experience?
Well, the calm river unexpectedly turned into white water
rapids.
Whitewater we hit
We drive along the river with
both lake kayaks on my roof rack constantly looking at the condition of the
river.
It all looks fast, but do-able,
except for that mile section not viewable
from the road. We put in up river
and begin our expected enjoyable journey down the meandering river.
Five minutes didn’t pass before I see a bit
of white caps up ahead.
It looks FAST
but still achievable in my wild mind.
I
give the thumbs up to Chris behind me, as he is wisely holding to some
overhanging branches.
He lets go and we
dart into the first choppiness and around the bend in the river…to see the fast
river turn into a much faster raging river of death.
Gigantic boulders are scattered in all directions
as the water funnels into a tight canyon dropping elevation FAST.
Not only that, but less than a hundred feet
away lies a bulky, ominous, death-implying, fallen tree lying across the canyon
blocking the way entirely.
Our lake
kayaks were no match for even the beginning white caps as they quickly fill
with water and capsize. The initial
shock of the 34-degree snowmelt water is short lived at first sight of the
fallen tree. There we are popping in and
out of white water getting closer and closer to an obvious head-to-tree
collision.
Tree of what's supposed to be death
Smack!
My body comes to an instant stop as my body
hit a full-size boulder about forty feet from the tree.
The force of the water has me pinned, but I
am able, by God’s strength, to push off and forcefully swim to shore along the
canyon wall.
Just as I get my bearings, I see Chris right in the
middle of the rushing current heading straight for the tree! My eyes are intently watching his vulnerable
body close 20, 15, 10, 5 feet away from the tree… and as I search my
memory now, the very next thing I see is Chris standing atop the fallen tree with the white water pounding it
and swooping under. Standing. Not grabbing on with his hands, not pulling
himself out of the impossible water forces, not swinging his legs onto the
tree, but STANDING. He also believes,
no, he knows, God pulled him out of that water and stood him up on that tree.
Yes, God still performs in the miraculous. We prayed for protection before we began our
journey, and He answered with His grace, power, will, and angelic assistance. We both look back on our death-defying
escapade that Tuesday afternoon with great thanksgiving to God for sparing our
lives so we can live out His perfect and world-changing will for our lives on
this earth. Because of His undying love
even when we humans do something rather stupid, Chris will pastor and change
lives in a growing youth ministry in the tri-cities, and I will continue to
serve the Lord here in McCall and most likely travel the world fulfilling
Christ’s Great Commission.
Still an alive
and jubilant servant of my God and Savior
(both spiritually and physically),
Zach Hooley
P.S. Going
into all the world means taking my exploratory outdoor thrills along with me to
reach others who are hungry for adventure.
Please pray for continued protection of my crazy and passionate life as
well as wisdom in finding my missing and most-likely damaged kayak and
paddles. We rescued my parent’s damaged
kayak about a mile down river, but mine is still pinned at the bottom of the
furious river somewhere. Possibly pray I
would more readily see precarious situations and exercise safety more often
when I take people along on my thrilling and extreme excursions. Thank you.
www.myspace.com/hooley4christ
