Bracing for rapids.

We rafted the white waters of the North Fork in Glacier National Park last summer. 

If I remember correctly, one of the rapids we passed through was named THE BONE CRUSHER.  (I thought maybe in all caps you would feel the ominous in that name.) 

How do you prepare for THE BONE CRUSHER when your rafting guide is an ornery man with a glint in his eye? 

Today I pack my suitcase in preparation for taking my firstborn to college.  For months, every single adult survivor of this rite of passage has looked me in the eye with sober expression and said, Ah, the bone crusher.  Hardest thing I ever did in my life was to drive away from my child at college. 

Not encouraging. 

If only there were something to brace my feet against. 

This is what I’m doing to prepare for rapids.

·        Thanking God we have a daughter. 

·        Thanking God she’s sad to leave us.

·        Thanking God we’re sad she’s going.

·        Thanking God we’re in a country where girls can learn how to read and get an education.

·        Thanking God for providing money for her to go.

·        Thanking God for Skype and a text plan.

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:18  NIV) 

Thankfulness.  It's the only handle to hold onto when things are about to get rough.

As I give thanks, I am reassured that the God of all this goodness will continue to be good through the hard goodbye and the hard first weeks (months?) of missing her beautiful face.   

What rapids are you facing right now?  (Maybe it’s the same whitewater trouble you’ve been facing every morning for a long time.)  Brace yourself with thankfulness. 

What would you write first on your list of gratitude?