The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him. Psalm 28:7
As the summer comes to an end, there has been an uptick in rip tide accidents, especially with the horrific incident regarding Malcolm Jamal Warner and Hurricane Erin which hit the east coast recently.
There has been a flood of memories that has overwhelmed me due to my close encounter with rip tides. My sister, niece and I went to Point Pleasant Beach in August. In the timeline, it was right after I had left my whole life behind due to the 2008 recession and one year after starting this blog.
As we entered the beach, the attendant told us to be aware of the harsh rip currents. She pointed to a yellow flag ahead as a sign of caution, which was posted on the beach shore to alert beach goers, as we paid the fee to enter the beach. I didn’t think anything of it since I don’t know how to swim and don’t go into the ocean besides wading by the shore.
It was a beautiful day. It was a picture-perfect, blue sky and light breeze with the salty ocean air blowing the aroma of grilled hot dogs, hamburgers and fries by the nearby beachfront restaurants. It was peaceful and relaxing. I enjoyed the warmth of the sun on my face. After we ate lunch, we decided to go wading in the water to get cooled off. We dipped our feet in the icy water where the waves hit our ankles with delight. As we stood there, another wave came in. When we looked down, the water covered our knees. We started to laugh and joke. My sister was concerned because she forgot to take off her watch, so she held it in her hand.
Another wave came in and the water was up to my shoulders. I couldn’t believe it. I yelled at my niece, “Get out!” She is autistic and even though she knew how to swim she didn’t realize the danger and was giggling. She was within arm’s reach. It was by the power of God that I grabbed her arm and swung her in the midst of the ocean while the waves were going against her and receding at the same time as I pushed her against the current and told her to run! I started to run as fast as I could. My legs felt like lead as a treaded in slow motion in the water. The ocean took a breath and receded as I looked back for a second and saw my sister on her hand and knees crawling and clawing her nails in the sand. I kept running and did not look back until I knew I had made it to the beach. Another wave came in and when I looked back, I saw two lifeguards pulling my sister out of the ocean. She was gasping, coughing and wiping the water out of her eyes.
I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
Psalm 9:1
I will tell of all Your marvelous works.
Fear not, for I am with you;
Isaiah 41;10
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
We had nearly drowned that day. We stood in silence staring at the ocean like zombies for the rest of the day. We eventually took a walk along the beach and saw little children building sandcastles and two- and three-year-olds running near the ocean. I wanted to run up to everybody to tell them to get their babies, but I just was silent and numb. We took a walk on the boardwalk and watched the people enjoying the amusement rides, but we had no desire to get on any of the rides. When we arrived home, it was a somber feeling as we shared our experience with my sister’s ex-husband. He was very upset to hear what happened but very thankful that we were ok. I’m reminded of how close we came to losing our lives and thank God that he spared us that day.
What memory are you reminded of that you can give God thanks for today? From a minor event to the most tragic, every day is a day to live with gratitude. The sacrifice of Jesus for the penalty of sin is worthy of His praise and thankfulness for all He has done for us. Whether you are walking through a storm or a season of joy, there is a reason to be thankful and give Him praise!
The Healing Waters and Trees – 1st week of September 2025
The Lord led me to read Ezkiel 47 about two weeks after I posted this story. In the scripture, it describes the exact height of the water each time a wave hit me at the beach. I was able to get out of the water before it was too deep. I absolutely could not believe what I was reading. I never read this before in the Bible. This scripture also reminded me of Psalm 1:3 and Jer 17:8.
Ezk 47:3-12
3 “As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. 5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. 6 He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”
Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. 10 Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. 11 But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”
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