Speedboats

by Todd Nigro

Life is like an ocean. I was going through the ocean on a speedboat for forty-two years. It seemed that the meaning of life was to zip from here to there on the best speedboat we could buy. The purpose of life was to provide an exciting life to my family on the boat as we zoomed from each activity to another. My boat was successful and I was in control. I could maneuver around other obstacles to get where I wanted to go. It seemed that we always needed a better speedboat. But, where were we going?

Then, one day, while going very fast, our speedboat crashed in spectacular fashion. Our youngest sailor was killed, and we all were floating in the water with only our life vests. We were each floating away from each other, all alone. We needed help. We were not in control.
It became obvious in those moments that there was help. God was right there, and I asked Him to become my Captain. Along came a rowboat, with no one in it. I climbed in and asked God to help me “save” the rest of the crew. He assured me that our baby was with Him, and He took charge as we located and “saved” the crew.

We all realized that to move we had to work together trusting in our Captain. As we rowed, we saw so many speed boats zooming past us, from here to there. We also saw many crashes, people in the water, and other rowboats with a similar-looking Captain.

Our Captain always seemed to guide us to the helpless souls floating in the water. We picked up many and they were given their rowboats. We were no longer aimlessly moving in a vast ocean with no real purpose, but working together following the will of our Captain, on a path only known to Him.

I plan to keep rowing wherever my Captain takes me.