thegoodfight
member
- Joined
- May 30, 2008
- Messages
- 243
This is directly from my sister's blog that was posted this morning...
"Last night, we went out on the boat to watch the fireworks. There were 14 of us including Lily (3) and Claire (1).
The fireworks were fun and we headed home. The front was pretty low, so people kept moving to the back to even it out. All that remained in front was me, Lily, and 3 other kids.
The water was very choppy with all the traffic and the front was pretty low, and the next thing I remember is that we hit a swell and water came pouring in. I hear Ross (our Executive Director at camp) say, everyone needs to get a life jacket on and we're going to have to bail.
Bail? Was the boat going under? Yes and very rapidly. Ross was asking Andy to get the life jackets and I hear Andy say, 'I'm holding Claire.' As soon as he said that I was racing around passing out life jackets. Lily was right next to me.
Keep in mind, it is very late at night, we have babies, who can't swim, the boat is going under quickly and no help in sight.
We eventually all have life jackets on, Claire was with Andy, and Lily was with me. I hear Ross call 911, asking for help, We're flashing our lights and honking a very quiet horn. No one responds, people keep passing by. Everyone is yelling , 'help' and waving for help as best as they could under the circumstances.
After about 15 minutes of this, by the grace of God, a boat sees us, and heads in our direction. As we're all bobbing in the water the fear of getting hit by another boat was the biggest for everyone. Andy immediately swam Claire to the boat and lifted her to safety. He immediately came and got Lily. Andy is great at so many things, swimming is not one of them. I specifically remember praying, 'Lord, sustain him, help him to carry our little girls to safety, protect him, keep him.' After a very hard swim, he got Lily in the boat.
At this point another boat passing by noticed the commotion and came over to help. Everyone made it to a boat safely and the only things lost were shoes, phones, and purses.
It really makes you painfully aware of our mortality and how fast things can go wrong. There are so many what ifs that we haven't even let our minds go down that path.
Things we are really thankful for and clearly show God's hand are; Both girls were wearing life jackets the entire time we were on the boat, even though they are uncomfortable and awkward and Claire's was soaking wet. We are thankful for the police's G.P. S, that tracked Ross's phone call to find our boat. The flare that was sent up received no attention due to the fireworks. We are so thankful everyone is alive and well. We haven't let go of our girls yet and I don't see that happening any time soon."
I thank God they are all ok. This happened on a very large lake in Wisconsin.
"Last night, we went out on the boat to watch the fireworks. There were 14 of us including Lily (3) and Claire (1).
The fireworks were fun and we headed home. The front was pretty low, so people kept moving to the back to even it out. All that remained in front was me, Lily, and 3 other kids.
The water was very choppy with all the traffic and the front was pretty low, and the next thing I remember is that we hit a swell and water came pouring in. I hear Ross (our Executive Director at camp) say, everyone needs to get a life jacket on and we're going to have to bail.
Bail? Was the boat going under? Yes and very rapidly. Ross was asking Andy to get the life jackets and I hear Andy say, 'I'm holding Claire.' As soon as he said that I was racing around passing out life jackets. Lily was right next to me.
Keep in mind, it is very late at night, we have babies, who can't swim, the boat is going under quickly and no help in sight.
We eventually all have life jackets on, Claire was with Andy, and Lily was with me. I hear Ross call 911, asking for help, We're flashing our lights and honking a very quiet horn. No one responds, people keep passing by. Everyone is yelling , 'help' and waving for help as best as they could under the circumstances.
After about 15 minutes of this, by the grace of God, a boat sees us, and heads in our direction. As we're all bobbing in the water the fear of getting hit by another boat was the biggest for everyone. Andy immediately swam Claire to the boat and lifted her to safety. He immediately came and got Lily. Andy is great at so many things, swimming is not one of them. I specifically remember praying, 'Lord, sustain him, help him to carry our little girls to safety, protect him, keep him.' After a very hard swim, he got Lily in the boat.
At this point another boat passing by noticed the commotion and came over to help. Everyone made it to a boat safely and the only things lost were shoes, phones, and purses.
It really makes you painfully aware of our mortality and how fast things can go wrong. There are so many what ifs that we haven't even let our minds go down that path.
Things we are really thankful for and clearly show God's hand are; Both girls were wearing life jackets the entire time we were on the boat, even though they are uncomfortable and awkward and Claire's was soaking wet. We are thankful for the police's G.P. S, that tracked Ross's phone call to find our boat. The flare that was sent up received no attention due to the fireworks. We are so thankful everyone is alive and well. We haven't let go of our girls yet and I don't see that happening any time soon."
I thank God they are all ok. This happened on a very large lake in Wisconsin.
