feeling way too much like gilligan…

it’s been nothing short of a crazy weekend. scrapbook mending for a friend, very early mornings, great leadership experience + guest speaker from New Zealand at church, {who by the way is my new favorite person!} yummy dinners + making eclairs from scratch for the first time {blog to come,} green room fabulousness + menu planning + grocery shopping, saturday wedding cake + delivery to the big chill with assistant olivia, 6 batches of turquoise buttercream, & cupcakes for miss mecklenburg county {& future miss nc + miss america.}

so, when we got invited on the lake today i thought it would be the perfect way to wind down, relax, get some sun, and take a few deep breaths before the next busiest week of my entire month. oh… if only it were true.

me in the car on our way to the lake. happy as a clam...

we grabbed starbucks, hit the boat deck and hopped on board. i remember one of the dock boys mentioning rain, but i thought “no way, we are not having that!” we headed out of the marina, and i saw grey clouds gathering in the distance… us girls were joking and singing the theme song to Gilligan’s Island while the guys decided we’d go in the direction of the sun-beamed sky. we had a whole lot of fun for a while, out-running the clouds, chatting about life, the amazing weekend we’d all just had and the future… but then…

lightning bolts, thunder, and a cold breeze that just didn’t feel right swept over our shoulders. as the sky continued to get darker we contemplated a plan… “should we hit an island and hide?” “well, trees don’t sound like such a good idea right?!” “should we try to speed the 30 mins back to the dock?” “it’s not looking too good over that way…” “do we just take cover and wait it out?” “it’s coming right for us!” we eventually settled on, “well if we all die here at least we’re all together…” nice. that’s the best we can do?! i immediately wrapped up all the iphones in a dry towel and tucked them inside my red longchamp bag… i knew it would get us through, because if i can’t tweet and instagram about this asap i’ll die! we decided to try to make our way back and huddled together in the back of the boat with our towels wrapped over our heads. right now, cramming my 6 foot tall frame inside the tiny bathroom cubby wasn’t sounding too shabby…

the storm rolling in... it showed us who was boss.

the rain came harder, and faster. bigger drops, and more darkness. okay, now we’re in the middle of the lake, with nowhere to go, and we’re half an hour from where we started… we managed to make our way over to a random dock {and not one that was in any condition to be attaching a boat to.} the girls hopped the ledge and made a run to land {actually i cowered under someone’s garage door ledge for quite a bit while the guys took care of tying up the ship.} i had no idea where we were… but the house next door was recognizable, even to me. “weird i think i’m having deja vu.” apparently we know the people who live here… seriously?!

not only were they home, but they brought us clean, dry towels, invited us in, put our soaked clothes in the dryer and offered us anything we could ask for. now, this is not only the craziest thing ever, but it’s a miracle. ptl!

there's nothing like being in your baithing suit in a strangers house, while you're clothes are in their dryer...

now about the deja vu… i didn’t actually know this family personally, but i recognized the house and 2 of their children from a photo they showed me tonight. a girl i knew from high school and her very gorgeous older brother… it hit me that the only other time i’ve EVER been stranded out on the lake, THIS was the VERY house we ended up getting rescued at. {the short version: me and my besty were jet-skiing/tubing with my dad… we left the jet-ski idle for a while we were just floating around in the water for a bit, but little did we know our tube rope was getting tangled in the motor… we rolled it over trying to get the rope out, with no such luck. the jet-ski was done for  and my dad’s cell phone was wet and dead and we were in the middle of the lake. oh, and it was getting dark. the 3 of us swam about a mile dragging the jet-ski to this VERY house, where the handsome older brother of the girl i knew from high school cut the rope for us and sent us back on our way.} can you even believe this?! i had to blog about it while it was fresh in my head and while i’m still in awe of these 2 stories colliding. what are the chanches? i have no more words.

“rescues” hold a very special place in my heart.. in situations like this one i’m constantly reminded of how the Lord rescued me out of tragedy and brokeness. i never thought it was possible but, he pulled me up and out of the distress that i sometimes still can’t believe ever happened. He is my rescuer. and He is your rescuer. but sometimes we find ourselves washed up on a familiar shore and we’re hoping for a rescue, a miracle. don’t be discouraged by where you’ve ended up, even if it’s happened before… call out for help and surrender… and you too shall be rescued. {the Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemed. psalm 34:22} {the Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom… 2 timothy 4:18}{God remembered us when we were down, His love never quits. rescued us from the trampling boot, His love never quits. takes care of everyone in time of need. His love never quits. Thank God, who did it all! His love never quits! psalm 136:23-26}

alas, we all made it home safe and sound, and even shared dinner with our lovely rescuers… sunday funday it is… and it was SO fun. i’ll never forget it. oh, and ginger and mary-ann are 2 new nicknames i’ll be using starting now.