The Power of the Living Water

I almost died Mother's Day 2023.

The Power of the Living Water

John 7:37-39

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

I struggled on where to start with what I needed to share today. But I know I need to share this message and I know I needed your attention, so I apologize for the brash, but true start. Please read this. I have such urgency in my heart for you to know the Lord and have the peace that He gives. I share this to show what God has done for me. I share this to show how amazing our God is. I share this because God divinely orchestrates and uses everything according to His will. I share this because you need to know how powerful our Father is. How very real and present our Father is.

I don’t know exactly where to start, but I believe every part of my day, from interruptions to an outfit change, played a huge part in what occurred. God never shows us the full picture until we are looking back after. He knows in His infinite wisdom what is best for us to know and not know. As believers, we have to trust that. This is why He is God and we are not. He is good therefore we trust the plan He has for us. Earlier this year I shared about fog and how not seeing what was in front of me coming next was critical to my journey to continue with one step at a time. Had I known what was ahead of me, I likely would have taken a different route. But I am so glad that I didn’t.

For mother’s day, I took my mom to our favorite spot—Ohio Pyle. We have our routine of biking, shopping, then grabbing salads at Falls Pub. It truly is just the best day—being in nature, spending time with my mom, and experiencing God’s Creation. All of that was executed nearly perfectly…except…sadly the salads. They were out of lettuce at the Falls Pub and we so badly wanted salads, so we decided to cut our losses from our favorite little restaurant/atmosphere and go somewhere else for a salad. I only share this so you understand the critical delays….we were able to secure a salad at a different restaurant but had a bit of a wait. I know you were really concerned about that when reading this. (insert sarcasm here).

Every detail matters. Why? Because it does to God. I am overwhelmed when I see how His hand was in this. After such an amazing day despite the salad hiccup, my mom said I just don’t want to go home yet. I said let’s go sit by the water for a little. We were soaking up the beautiful sights all around us. Looking to our left wondering what the solo older gentleman was thinking about on his bench…looking to our right at this gentlemen’s cool rocking chair and noting the fierceness of the water. Just next to that gentleman was a red case attached to a pole. My mom pointed and asked is that a rescue raft/life saver thingy. I said yep and they have them along the river.

Just right to the life saver, a girl about 15 years old, went to the water’s edge; I suppose to dunk her toes to test the temperature. The freezing temperature. She was not trying to swim (jean shorts and a t-shirt) as this was a no swim, danger zone, as denoted by the sign right in front of us. She slipped and fell in. She quickly flipped over to try to grab on to something as she started to get pulled in the current. She grabbed her phone out of her back pocket and threw it to shore. At that instant she was swept away 25 yards to my right. She saved the phone, but at the cost of being swept away.

Let me preface this, I don’t write this because I want a pat on the back. This. isn’t. about. me. When I tell you I had no choice, I mean…I had no choice. My feet moved and ran to the water. Never was there a moment where I thought should I go or should I not. The Holy Spirit moved my feet before I had time to think. I was supposed to be there. I’d like to think that would be my instant default reaction if I was in control, but it was the Holy Spirit this day who controlled my reaction.

I ran in and instantly felt the force and power of the water. My feet slipped and I had no traction. It was a sheet of ice. No rocks. Just smooth slate from the constant ever flowing waters. I grabbed the girl and pulled her up out of the water. At this point she was in full panic mode and I said I have you. The water was so fast and there was no traction. I knew I had to stay calm and work with the water and try to get closer to shore a little bit at the time. The only option was to swim. It was too deep and there was no traction to get anywhere. The water was going so fast, but we were working our way to the shore and all of a sudden we hit the rapids. I can’t explain the power of the water. We hit a rapid and went under. I got a mouth full of water and was trapped under the water. I kept trying to push off the floor and slipping. I prayed, God please. And had such peace. And heard "fight." I pushed off the ground and came up enough to expose my mouth and get the smallest breath of air. And went back under.

“God give me a rock.”

Boom. I hit a rock so hard and stopped at that instant. The impact caused the girl to slip out of my hand and be swept away from me. The falls were only 50-75 yards away from where I hit. I clung to the rock in total shock. Absolutely stunned. All I could hear was the water and the precious breaths I had left…and all I could think about was the life that just slipped away out of my hands. I failed.

My location was close to the shore but the water was too strong for me to get back there myself. My poor mother, which always says memories are the best gift—I don’t think she had this in mind …perhaps she should have specified what kind of memories. I say this all in good heart because of the ending of this story. My mom was the one who threw the life saver to me. Everyone stood around…just watching…and in her terror of running along the shore with me was able to have the strength to rip a rope and throw me the lifesaver. Once I got back on the shore, I found my legs and ran up to where the falls were because I know the water slows after them. I didn’t know if someone saw and would be able to pull her out after the falls. As I made my way to the top I found a gentleman walking the girl up the hill just 50 feet from the falls. She was alive and well!!

I wept. I wept for the shock I had. I wept for the terror I experienced. I wept for God’s grace. I wept for His answer. I wept as I saw a father reunited with his daughter. I remembered my mom at that point and instantly knew the shock and terror she must be feeling and I ran back down to her and held her so close. A group of young EMTs happened to be there and was way upstream from where it all happened and they asked if we were ok and checked on us. I couldn’t quite process everything that happened and needed to sit and gather myself. I had gratitude and sorrow in my heart. Feeling a human life slip out of my hand was something I never wanted to feel again.

A man and his wife walked down and were looking for me. He asked me if I was ok and I looked up only to see the gentleman who pulled the girl out of the water. He told me him and his wife felt like they needed to come back and visit the falls one more time. They were already there earlier that day and came back because he felt like he needed to. They were on the overlook and saw everything happen. He saw me pull her out of the water and try to bring her closer to the rivers edge. He hopped over the falls look out fence and ran to the water to pull her out.

If you have ever been to Ohio Pyle, you know that there are giant boulders that split the waters into different currents…an inch makes all the difference. Had we been to the right of the rock we would have been ripped right into the middle of the river into the falls…instead we hit the left side current that follows the shoreline and wraps around the tiniest bit before the falls. Enough of a delay to be pulled out.

I know that was a lot of detail, but there are so many lessons in every thing that happened. This is going to sound petty, but it’s not. I didn’t mention my outfit change earlier, but I changed my outfit because a hat that I hadn’t worn in a long time fell on the floor and I thought…I want to wear this today. If you know me, you know I like to match. It caused me to change into a different pair of shoes. Not just any shoes…my water poof hiking shoes with big treads. I know I felt like I couldn’t ever get a grip on the floor, but I can’t help but think and KNOW that I was meant to wear those shoes. An inch makes a difference between the left and right current. The seconds that were saved by getting closer to shore made a difference to her life. My salad being delayed made a difference on WHEN I was there. The girl taking the second to save her phone was enough distraction to be swept away. What is your “phone” …what is your stronghold that is causing just enough distraction for you to be swept away? It’s always something little. It starts small…and before you know it. You are drowning.

God taught me that no matter how much you think you are drowning. He hears you. Read that again. No matter how much you are drowning. He hears you. Call upon him. Trust him. God gave us his rock. The Church that was built on Jesus Christ. God gave me a rock when I cried out. I struggled that I had let her slip out of my hand, but God reminded me. The Church. It takes all of us. It takes EVERYONE. It takes everyone. Specifically the church that is built on Jesus Christ. My faith is the single most important thing to me in my life. And sometimes I make decisions that don’t reflect that. But I pray every day for God to use me. To be a vessel. To be a light. The man that pulled the girl out of the water….a missionary. A believer in Jesus Christ. My mother, if you know her, you know she’s a worrier, but when something like this happens she is a warrior. Why because of the power of the Holy Spirit. She’s a believer. The power of the Holy Spirit helped her to be calm and rip the life saver off the post. The power of the Holy Spirit moved my feet. The power of the Holy Spirit moved that gentleman to go back one more time to the falls…and it moved him to jump the fence.

I am telling you, God is real. The grace Jesus gave us is real. And the Power of the Holy Spirit is real. It is right here. All you have to do is be a vessel to let it flow through. This was not of our own doing. We were moved by the Holy Spirit. The rock. I am reminded of Peter (Petros, the rock) when he takes his eyes off of Jesus and begins to sink…he cried out and reached for Jesus and he was there. I cried out to Jesus and He was there. He gave me an overwhelming peace that passed all understanding and clarity to help me fight. That’s the key. It still requires action on your part. It still requires fight from you, but you must shift your focus from your circumstances to the rock—Jesus Christ. Today is not promised.

I was moved by the Living Water in such a way that absolutely rocked my soul. I can do nothing but share what my Father has done for me. This is not about me. It wasn’t me.

John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”