Hypothermia | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Hypothermia | Previous Challenge Entry
By Angeline oppenheimer
11/16/06
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Hypothermia

I have a fear of water. Any body of water. You can blame it on a severe case of hypothermia. When everyone is walking around in tank tops, I’m in long sleeves. When they deem fit to put on long sleeves, I’ll be knee-high in thermal underwear, drowned in two or three layers of winter clothing. You’ll never find me near a pool, unless it’s to watch my kids swim or near the ocean unless…you guessed it…to watch my kids frolic in the cool waves. So I’ve no need of lifeguard. At least, not for myself, hence no baywatch lifeguard stories to share. Or maybe not.

I may not swim, but I’ve certainly swam in bodies of water. Life sometimes soak me in pools of tears, tears that flow like a river. Not glorious as one song suggests but pain-stained and copious with unsightly floaters of angst and fears. Like the time the phone rang in the middle of the night and I learned that my mother had kidney failure. What was I to do when I live 12,000 miles away? Pain flooded my heart, miles apart or not. Maybe it even intensified how I felt. I swam in my bed of tears, sorrow rising with each dreaded scenarios, played out in different ways in my over-reactive mind. I wasn’t ready to lose her yet, especially since I just learned to appreciate her after all these years of alienation.

The flood rises without mercy, happy to claim another victim. Nearby, the Lifeguard of my life watches. Tenderly, he throws me a floatie of a verse, a song, a sermon I’ve heard, a story in His Word. He’s my song in the night, my hope in the morning, my rock in the rain, my joy in times of despair, my shield, my EL Shaddai…the list goes on and on. He does not fish me out…He believes in facilitating, not enabling us to just sit and expect some miracles. Well, actually He sometimes does that but in this instance, He wants to me to figure out His mercies and understand the depth of His love. And when I do make it to shore, I know that He has been my coach, coaching me on, stroke by stroke. The relief, the answer, the outcome glows like I’ve won a trophy.

Dealing with pools of water is like wading in a kids’ pool compared to the torrential floods of storms. Yes, I’ve encountered a number of those in my earthly sojourn. Rain that pelts until it cracks….the body, the mind, the soul (God forbids). Winds that howl and scream disaster in every angry hiss and whip. Waves of trials and tribulations churn, gravitating towards the eye of the storm. What a fragile soul to do? Even if I’m an expert at swimming, the forces are too fierce for me. The Lifeguard is at hand, if I can bring myself to see Him through the turmoil. I can call out to Him. Sometimes I may need to shout, at other times, a whisper will do (He already knows) or even a sigh. If I can learn to stop struggling (doesn’t struggling plunge you even deeper?) and just let Him hold me, underneath me are the everlasting arms. He who created the world and all the elements in them will know how to silence them. I don’t have to know how to swim, I just need to know how to cling on. Tight.

So, yes, I’ve lots of lifeguard stories to tell. Like the time when my husband had an bicycle accident and his nerves on his neck were knotted together. Or the time he lost his job because he had the accident. The time when my mom passed on, and I had to make the 12,000 miles plane ride to Singapore. How about the time when my brother went to jail because he hired an foreign worker (Singapore regulations).

I’ve survived these storms because my Redeemer lives and He lives to guard the one He redeemed. Sure, I’ve drank lots of water struggling to stay afloat. Sometimes, I passed out and needed resuscitation. I’ve gone under, choking and grasping, grapping on air. But the lifeguard always come true for me. He is the lifeline that will not snap under the weight.

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