What Really Matters?

What Really Matters?

    I was super excited. My husband had been river rafting before, and I had anxiously awaited the day when I would get to go with him. Our four kids were finally old enough and could be left all day with a babysitter. I was nervous to do so, though. What happened if something went wrong and I was four hours away, floating on a river? I gave the sitter many instructions, said a silent prayer of safety for children, and left for my adventure.

    When we finally arrived at the Deschutes River the sun had risen and become a beautiful, clear day. The water in the river was clear and seemed to be moving fast. I was excited at the anticipation of getting in the raft and setting out on the adventure. Before we could go, we had to listen to the rules. They seemed easy enough. We all had to wear a life jacket. It was not a rule I would likely break because I am not a very strong swimmer. Water has always scared me, but I had always felt safe with a life jacket on. The other rules were that if we were to get thrown from a boat, we needed to hold onto our life jacket and keep our feet raised, pointed down river. This was so our feet would be the things to hit the rocks on the river bottom, instead of our heads. After we listened to the rules, we all grabbed our life jackets and headed for the rafts.

    I was in a raft with my husband, a friend, and four other people I did not know. My husband and our friend positioned themselves in the back so that they could steer the boat.

    The rest of us found spots along edges so that we could help paddle through the rapids. I sat in the back right hand corner, closest to my husband. We had a really large young man on our boat. I was pretty frustrated with him from the beginning because he refused to help row. I’m not very big or strong, but I was willing to help with the work to support our raft. The large young man just sat in the front and off to the left, misbalancing the raft. He let himself get carried down the river with the help of everyone else. It was like he was a sea lion laying on his rock, enjoying the scenery and working on his tan.

    We were having a great time when the first rapid came up. We all got ready and grabbed onto our oars. Those steering the raft shouted commands to us and we did our best to comply. “Row on the right, now left! Faster!” It was such a rush. Water was splashing all around us and the boat was rocking back and forth. I was gripping my oar so tight that my knuckles were white. After what seemed like a few minutes, but was really only seconds, we were out of the rapid and back onto the smoother part of the river. My adrenaline was pumping and I was ready for more!

    After enjoying the river and lazily paddling for a while, we saw that we were coming up to Oak Springs. It is a class IV rapid and would be the most intense rapid we would go over that day. It is a difficult rapid with powerful, irregular waves, dangerous rocks, and boiling eddies. Precise maneuvering and scouting are necessary for a class IV rapid. Because I was still on a high from the last rapid, I was anxious to conquer Oak Springs. We were the fourth raft in a line of four rafts in our party. We watched the first raft enter the rapid and then tip over, throwing passengers everywhere. The second did the same. The third raft decided to take the path on the left, avoiding the rapid all together. I was pretty nervous by this point. My husband and my friend assured us they knew what they were doing and that we should attempt the rapid. I DID NOT WANT TO. I had a bad feeling and wanted to avoid it. But the majority ruled and we decided to go straight into the heart of Oak Springs. Our large friend, who had not managed to pick up a paddle to help was still in the front, left of the boat, heavily weighing us down. Everyone was frantically yelling to move towards the center of the raft. The large young man did not listen. The minute we hit the rapid, he was like an anchor that stopped us on the first dip in the waves, causing the back right of the raft to fly into the air, launching me into the center of the river, where the rapids were the most violent. Everyone else got caught in the current that pulled them to the right shore line. I was so disoriented. I was under the water and had no idea which way was up. I tried to fight my way to the surface so that I could get air. I hit the water with my mouth wide open. As soon as I popped up, I coughed and choked and tried to get all of the water out of my lungs. Before I could cough it all out, a wave would catch me again and pull me right back under the water. I was moving fast in the center of the river, still very much in the rapids. I held onto my life jacket and tried to keep my feet up, like I had been instructed to do, but I did not know what to do about getting out of the rapid. I was more scared than I had ever been in my entire life. There was no one around and I was at the river’s mercy. It would suck me under, battering my body on the rocks, only to spit me back out. I would attempt to cough and sputter, but never had enough time to catch a real breath. I frantically prayed to my Heavenly Father over and over again to save me. I pleaded with Him, telling Him that I had four small children at home who needed me and that I was not ready to die. I kept on re-emerging from the water, to cough and then to get dragged back under.

    After what seemed an eternity, a girl, probably ten years younger than me, rushed up by me. She was scared, but not terrified like I was. She grabbed onto my hand and we held hands and helped keep each other afloat. There was a raft that had made it over Oak Springs before our party went that was helping fish people out of the river. They got to us and pulled us to safety. The minute I got in the boat and finished coughing all of the river water out of my lungs, a girl in the boat took on a panicked tone of voice. “Your diamond! Your diamond! Do you still have it?” Perplexed, I almost pulled it off to offer it to her not really understanding what she was thinking. I was in the middle of dichotomous feelings of being snatched from my watery grave and knowing that I would see my children again. I was so grateful to be alive. My diamond meant nothing compared to having my life saved and knowing I would see my children once more.

    Shortly after, we stopped for lunch. I was not very hungry. I remember offering a silent prayer of thanks to my Heavenly Father. I thanked Him for my life, my husband, and my children. At that moment, I knew what was most important in this life and none of the other minor things that sometimes get in the way mattered. The next day, I stumbled on a thought someone had written. It said, “What if the only things you thanked Heavenly Father for yesterday, were the only things you woke up to find this morning?” Although I was more scared than I had ever been in my whole life and I had almost died, I was grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving me this experience to help me see what this life is all about.