Yesterday, I (sort of) went kayaking.

The ocean was a level 3 when the first boats started out, but by the time the last boats set out, it had changed to a 5.

I was in the last boat, and when we set out, all the coordinators except for the one in my boat had already rounded the corner ahead.

The two boats that had left just before us were piloted by completely unexperienced kayakers. They ended up crashing into the rocks.

We went over and rescued them. Carlos went over and rescued them. I just sat in the kayak and did absolutely nothing.

Carlos got everyone back to the beach and then left us there and ran away without a word.

For the next hour or so we just sat on the beach - 2 Germans, 2 Brazilians, and me. No water, no food, no phones, no money, no watches, and (in my case) no right leg.

Everyone was complaining that they still wanted to go kayaking, so I prayed a rosary. Unfortunately, prayer is not magic and God is not a cosmic vending machine. Carlos eventually came back, explained what had happened with the sea rating, and said he'd run to make sure the rest of the group was okay. He hadn't found them on the other beach at first and panicked, thinking they'd all crashed into the rocks.

They hadn't. Everyone was fine. Although one pair had momentarily lost their kayak, some people were bleeding or bruised, and a few things such as phones and cameras were lost forever. But they reached the other beach.

We took cars to the other beach. But, we still had lunch, and I still got to go swimming with a couple really nice Brazilians.

And as far as I know, only two people ended up in the hospital (Carlos and his girlfriend both had shards of rock embedded in the bottom of their feet).

And I have an eerie feeling that what with all the problems the rest of the group had, that maybe if the 6 of us had actually continued, if those 4 people hadn't gotten stuck on the first rocks they'd come to but had managed to make it further out, that maybe we would have been the ones who did crash into the rocks around the bend right as the sea changed to a level 5 rating. And we weren't wearing helmets, so we probably would have died.

So maybe it's better that we sat on the seaweed covered beach, cold and tired and hungry and unsure where we were or when Carlos was coming back, while everyone else went kayaking.

I feel like I should be more upset, but I've come to realize that God knows what He's doing even when it makes no sense to us.

I'm praying for you!

:)