Perspectives That Shift

Does anyone out there have a best friend who pushes you to conquer your fears by doing crazy things that stretch you to your absolute limit?  I have a friend like that.  Her name is Bekah, and she's on this crazy trip with me.

We arrived in GORGEOUS San Diego early this morning, met with our wonderful CouchSurfers hostess, and decided to spend the day.... snorkeling.  Yes, like when you stick a plastic tube in your mouth, and suck air through it (literally for dear life) as you float around face down in the ocean.  Yeah, cause we're smart like that ;)  

Thus, several buses and a few hours later we arrived at La Jolla beach, aka exquisite place!  (Don't worry, I'm going to upload pictures along with this post!)  

I was doing ok with this whole snorkeling idea until we had rented the gear, struggled into it, and began plunging our faces under the water.  The scary thing for me was the change in perspective.  There were two notable changes which were physical and visual.

The physical perspective change was quite frightening for me because I was no longer able to regulate my breathing as I normally do.  Instead of breathing through my nose and mouth, I had to rely only on breathing through my mouth, and through a plastic tube at that!  I couldn't help it, I started hyperventilating... underwater... through a tube.  This is where Bekah came in.  She kept making motions with her hands, directing my breathing to be slow and regular, and when I freaked out and burst to the surface she gave me a huge (much needed) dose of tough love, basically telling me that it was all in my head and to get back underwater... so I did.  

That's when the second perspective change happened.  It came much more gradually then the first, most likely because it took me at least 30 minutes to keep my face in the water long enough to really look at things.  The moment I first put my face underwater, I saw a world I'd never seen personally before, and I didn't like it.  It was so foreign, so alien, that I wanted nothing to do with it.  I was scared and I felt like I shouldn't be seeing the fish and the algae so closely and clearly.  

As I looked around (and concentrated on breathing long and slow) I started thinking about something Bekah had said while I was ranting above water that it was creepy beneath the surface and I wanted no part of snorkeling.  She said that it was God's creation too, and it was beautiful. Needless to say, I was less then thrilled by this but I couldn't argue with her logic.  So, I began to notice the detail, the colors, and the variety that the ocean had to offer.  The more I looked around, the more I was struck by the fact that God HAD created this underwater world just as he created the world on land, and he called both of them good. 

The fish were either bright orange or silver.  The algae came in both burgundy and emerald.  The water was clear and blue, and the sand was a pale gold.  It was foreign, and it was beautiful.  Beyond the colors, I was struck by the detail and movement of the algae as the waves pushed it back and forth.  Likewise, the fish were fascinating as they darted in and out of the algae and swam around me and the other snorkelers.  

I still didn't love being underwater, and I was still struggling to keep my breathing steady.  However, I knew that God was in control of that foreign underwater world just as I know that he is in control of the familiar world on land.  I began to feel somewhat comfortable knowing that I hadn't plunged myself into a ridiculous, Alice in Wonderland type fantasy world where nothing made sense or operated the way it was supposed to.  There was no gravity, but there was balance.  There was no noise, but there was sound.  There were colors, and there was chaos, but it all flowed together in a way that showed the design of someone who was above the chaos.  

Once again God has shown me that he can not and will not be confined to a box.  I hadn't even realized it, but I was trying to confine him to my world on land.  Never acknowledging his authority over the sea.  No wonder the disciples were so awed when Jesus calmed the sea and walked on water.  Even though they were fishermen and earned their living from the sea, it must have also been mysterious and scary to them as well.  

Once we recognize that God's power is in and over ALL creation, we give ourselves the freedom to relax in that knowledge, and trust him to take care of us no matter what situation we find ourselves in.  

The Bible says that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God.  I believe that is true, and I thank God for shifting my perspective.

Rebekah

PS: Make sure to check out Bekah's blog at MyJoysofLife.blogspot.com!  She's been blogging for a long time, and she is also giving her perspective of the trip :D