What was I so worried about? My daughter, Amy, thought as she viewed the peaceful scene before her. She had had misgivings about her husband taking their three children on a tubing float trip down the river, but this looked idyllic. The placid river, the overhanging tree branches and the sun-dappled water were a perfect backdrop for their adventure. Their voices carried clearly over the water and were full of excitement and happy clamor as she waved to the group, which included her brother-in-law and his two children.
Amy headed back to the house to spend the afternoon with her sister-in-law visiting and cooking. She put ribs in to smoke, started a potato salad and made a peach cobbler. The tubers were bound to be hungry when they got back. This was a four-hour trip, so they should be home about seven. Sixteen-year-old Reid, a newly certified life guard, carried the only cell phone in the group, and they promised to stay in touch.
An hour or so later, he called to say they were having fun, except that the water was so calm they were not moving very swiftly. At home, the afternoon passed slowly, even with the distraction of entertaining a little niece who was too young to go along. Amy became concerned later, though, when there was no answer to repeated calls to check on her family. She decided to drive down to the little store which had recently become outfitters in canoe and tube rentals.
The manager became alarmed. “Why, that was a seven-hour trip!” he exclaimed as he checked their itinerary. That would put them in past sunset, which would be dangerous on the dark river. “They didn’t ask any questions, I assumed they knew that!” he said worriedly. It turned out they had talked to someone inside the store, but her husband, Shannon, an ex-police officer, had seemed confident, so there were no further instructions given. Actually, as a relative newcomer to the area, he was not that familiar with the river and it was his first float trip there.
Panicky by this time, the two women began to search up and down the river at points where it was visible to try to catch a glimpse of their family or talk to other floaters. Some said they had seen the group with several children about two hours away. With a sinking feeling, Amy knew they couldn’t make it by nightfall. Clambering through bushes for a better view, they came upon some kind of turbine and heard what they thought were strange rumblings from it. “They are starting to generate the river,” announced a bystander ominously. Oh, no! my daughter thought. That means the water would rise and become rough and roiling. “Some people drowned when they did that last year,” the person went on.
Rushing back to the outfitter, Amy clamored for assistance. She was assured that they were not “generating” the river, but when she heard the concerned proprietor making a search and rescue call for missing tubers, she was even more alarmed. Praying frantically, she beseeched God for mercies. She knew that, in their haste, the group had taken no water, sunscreen, or anything else.
After what seemed like forever and when she could stand it no longer, the phone rang. “Mom, we made it back,” Reid said. “I lost my cell phone, so I couldn’t call. I borrowed this one when we were picked up.” As relief flooded over her and tears of gratitude flooded her eyes, Amy thanked God for the safe return of her family. She shuddered with horror as she viewed the pitch-black river a little later and realized what could have happened. Pushing those thoughts from her mind, she herded them all home where they ate ravenously, all talking at once of their ordeal.
There had been hardly enough current in the river to keep them moving, so they’d had to improvise by paddling and swimming, tying some of the tubes together for safety and towing the younger ones. Urged on by their concern and the rapidly approaching night, they drew on all their strength and barely beat the darkness. Exhausted, but able to laugh at their fears now, and grateful to collapse in the security of home, they realized they’d had a miracle. Stronger arms than theirs had carried them to safety.
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