Article April 5, 2010 Issue

MY SCUBA STORY—AND STAYING FEARLESS

By allowing joy to outweigh the influence of fearful thoughts, this writer perseveres toward her dream of scuba certification.

BY JODIE SWALES

On the third day of a four-day scuba course, I was going out on the ocean for the first time. Though I was very excited, my preparations included prayer, since breathing underwater was a whole new experience for me.

On my first dive, I saw an amazing variety of fish—starfish, sea cucumbers—a whole host of God's creation. It was beautiful. Afterward I said to our instructor, "That was amazing." But then I noticed that the other people in my course were getting back into the boat and saying things like: "That was awful," or "I was nearly sick." Some people waiting for the next dive even began to get seasick, and it wasn't long before I did, too. Where had all my joy gone?

With one more dive to go for the day, I tried my best to pray about the situation, thinking about how God was with me. But all I really wanted was to get underwater where I could be by myself and get away from the turmoil. Instead of enjoying the day's last dive, appreciating the beauty of the underwater world, I just wished the dive would be over. I surfaced feeling disillusioned about my scuba endeavors, and was seasick again on the way back to the dive shop.

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