For most of the past 17 years, I have lived over 2,000 miles away from my extended family. My husband, David, and I spent 14 years in the Northwest. That is where we started our family... Baby #1, dog, Baby #2. Three years ago, we moved away from the Midwest and began an adventure that has us currently residing in Omaha, Nebraska. We are a close hop, skip, and jump from my parents; only 700+ miles.

Needless to say, visits are few and far between. In June, I had the chance to travel home with our girls and the dog to spend a couple of weeks with my family. My dad still works full time and is often very busy. The time that I am able to have with my father is precious to me. One morning,we managed to steal some time away together to go kayaking. I will admit up front, that I am a novice.

We left his house about 6 am and headed down to the dock. The wind was really blowing. We decided to head for an area where the water flowed from the lake into a channel that wound lazily back a distance.... surrounded by lily pads, lots of birds, ducks and other wildlife.

As we were trying to paddle from the lake to the calmer water of the channel, I was having difficulty. I found that my kayak kept turning in circles. I could not seem to find what worked for heading in a straight line. I decided to ask my dad for some advice on how to best get my kayak to go in the direction that I wanted it to go. I was hoping that he would have some words of wisdom for me. My father is a man of few words most of the time. This time was no different. When asked for his advice, he looked at me with a smile and said, "Paddle Accordingly".

At first I thought to myself, "Great dad. That is not much help." But then I decided to try to "paddle accordingly". (He did offer a few more words of insight, but those first words stuck with me). I stopped what I was doing that was not working, and began to try to copy my father. As I mirrored his strokes, I found that I began to move in the right direction. Before I knew it, we were paddling together, he and I, toward our goal of the calmer water. We did reach the channel, and I reveled in the beauty.

The moments that we were out together are probably among my best memories from this trip. But his words, are the ones that will stay with me for a lifetime. "Paddle Accordingly". Maybe I am just a lover of all things metaphorical, but that image has stayed with me. How like our daily walk... or swim or kayaking... with God. Each day I must choose to "paddle accordingly". Some days I take long deep strokes and gain a great deal of speed and distance. At other times, when the waves are rocking my boat, I am doing my best to just keep going in the same direction. I may find that when the storm is past, my boat is in an area of water that I never expected to be in...but it offers new opportunities for adventure. Or, at times, I may need a course correction when I find that I am headed for an area that would not be safe for me to go... may put myself or others at risk.

Let us encourage one another to "paddle accordingly". Hang in there when the waves are at their toughest. Let us not give up when it feels we are spinning in circles. Sometimes we just need to match our strokes to our Heavenly Father. The more we mirror our strokes to His, the more we will find our will aligned with His will for our lives. We will find those calmer waters.