Today, Sunday, was our first day at the beach during our vacation. And today God sent 2 of His angels to our son, Cameron.
The boys were riding the waves on their surf boards, and I was trailing after them, my iphone in hand, trying to capture their fun with the camera. None of us noticed that Connor & Cameron were moving farther out...trying to get to the bigger waves to ride. I followed, watching them through the screen of the camera, zooming in and out, trying to catch the fast action. And then, so suddenly, ...it happened. I looked up from the camera and noticed how far out we were. At the same time as I was taking in the distance with my eyes, I heard my sons yelling, “Help! Mommy, help!” The boys were ahead of me, further out than I was. They had drifted far enough so that they could not touch the bottom. As I began walking fast and with purpose toward the boys, I took it all in. The distance between me and them, the fear and urgency in their voices, and the fact that the water around them was calm...they were past where the waves were breaking. I reached Connor first and grabbed onto his board. I yelled to Cameron to come toward me. He was further out than Connor by several feet. Cameron was scared. He yelled back, “I can’t!” And then I saw a reason for urgency...every swell that was flowing through Cameron would nudge him momentarily closer to us, then further out to sea. The distance between us was increasing, and I could see it. I was losing him. I glanced quickly around me. There were 2 people, a man & a woman, watching, waiting. Holding onto Connor, I walked toward Cameron. And I couldn’t touch the bottom anymore. Hearing Cameron, glancing around, and moving toward him all happened in the same moment. When I knew I couldn’t touch the ocean floor anymore, I had 2 choices. Let go of Connor and swim toward Cameron, or call for help from the 2 people who I knew saw us. In that moment, I felt that I could not let go of Connor, I could not turn my back on Cameron while pulling Connor to where he could put his feet down. I kept my hand on Connor and my eyes on Cameron, and waved my left hand toward the 2 people and yelled for help. They heard and came right over. They swam immediately toward Cameron, and pulled him over to me. Meanwhile, I ended up with swells lapping over my head, and as we made our way back toward shore, the waves came up from behind and crashed down on our heads.
After pulling Cameron toward me and walking a few feet with us to make sure the boys were able to stand and walk, they simply disappeared. They could have been anywhere else at that moment. They could have easily never noticed us even if they were nearby. Cameron was drifting farther away from me for those few minutes. If I had let go of Connor to swim toward Cameron, Connor could have drifted away too. If I had pulled Connor in toward shore so he could make it back on his own, I would have increased the distance between Cameron & I, and my son would have thought I was leaving him. I couldn’t leave either of my sons. God worked through these two strangers to help us. I do not know their names, and never saw them once back on the shore. They appeared when we needed help, and were gone afterward. My sons are safe. A valuable lesson was learned today about not going out too far, and the power of the sea. And we all gave thanks to God for sending us angels when we needed help.
