81-This Blog Is Not About COVID-19…

My eyelids pried themselves open against my body’s will to ignore the predawn fight to beat the inevitable heatwave coming our way.  It was already 25 degrees and climbing to 40 degrees by 3pm, not the ideal weather for climbing frozen waterfalls.  I stole an extra ten minutes of sleep as I assessed my aching body from the first two day’s battles of might and power.  Somewhere in the daze I tuned my ear to the frequency of crashing water into the tall sandstone walls and ice barricades that held Chapel Beach hostage from the deep blue water of Lake Superior.  The waves sounded big, really big.

My headlamp was tucked in nice and cozy next to my head in my mummy sleeping bag, barely having a chance to sit idle before whipped into action, taking on the cold darkness.  This is what mountaineers deem the “alpine start,” meaning you gear up for your battle against nature predawn, which makes a man feel more like a warrior.  The waves continued to pound all morning long and into the afternoon, taunting the rare individuals who could drop a board in the frigid waters and ride them.  As for our team, we safely stared into the power of the deep hammering the ice shelf, sending incredible spray into the air with bits of ice that crushed under their magnificent force.  Every excuse to stop and take in God’s hand at work on this barren coastline was reason enough for me push concern for the oncoming heat deeper into the “no worries” file.

The waves on day three of this trip took the cake.  They were an awesome reminder that God is powerful, in charge and can do whatever He needs to do to get our attention.  All day we tried to capture on film an extra huge spray or chunk of flying ice some 60+ feet above the water surface but it never does it justice.  You have to experience it firsthand… and even more disappointing but perhaps peace of mind for our current crisis is that as powerful as the waves were, an ice flow arrived late afternoon and deadened the entire show!  In a matter of minutes the surface when from raging, crashing waves to near dead calm.  You can take this analogy however you need to but may I say that God is HUGE, knows the beginning from the end, can open the earth in anger, calm the storm in compassion, heal the sick and broken in love, and laugh at the era of toilet paper in complete distress with joy!   “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  Matthew 6:33,34

-Matt