gave me that wild-woman look of hers that said, “Get into it. Don’t
miss this. It’s going to be the time of your life.” And so I hung on for
dear life, trying to have an “Ann attitude.”
As our raft moved toward the huge, roaring drop-off, my hands
were clutching the ropes on the raft but my spirit was trying to let
go and trust. That’s when I yelled out a prayer that no one but God
himself could hear over the roar of the falls. “Catch me, God! Here I
come!”
Suddenly the bottom dropped out and I was screaming bloody
murder. And in that moment I became amazingly free. The river was
whirling our raft over waves and through currents. The wind and the
water were in my face. My sunglasses and my hat were knocked off
and hanging by strings. And although I was gasping, I was laughing
out loud. There was a new song of surrender in me moving as swiftly
as the river itself.
Later, after thinking about the experience, I realized that some-
times our trip through life is like one through Lava Falls. One direc-
tion looks incredibly risky and the other direction offers only
snakebite! So you trust and choose, and God meets you, teaching
you to praise him. He puts a new song in your heart, a hymn of
praise to your God (Ps. 40:3).
Father, thank you for teaching us to trust you in the challenging
places. Thank you for teaching us that the heart music in our lives
comes from following you each day—even when it’s not comfortable.
I choose today to take the risks and follow you. Amen.101 MOST POWERFUL PRAYERS IN THE BI BLE 155