Boat Naps

I finally got my first boat nap of the season last weekend.

The only problem is…it was almost October.

If you know me, you know just how unusual that is.

Living at Table Rock Lake, summer usually means being on the water. It means sunshine, warm afternoons, family, friends, and spending as much time on the boat as we can.

And somewhere in there, usually more than once, it means a boat nap.

There is just something about it. The sound of the water against the boat. The sun. The breeze. The gentle rocking.

Put all of that together and apparently I don’t stand much of a chance.

But this year was different.

A Different Kind of Summer

This wasn’t the summer I had planned.

Instead of weekends on the lake, there were hospital rooms.

Instead of boat rides, there were surgeries.

There were treatments, blood tests, scans, appointments, medications, recovery, waiting, and more changes of plans than I care to count.

Summer came.

And summer went.

There were plenty of things I didn’t get to do.

I could spend a lot of time thinking about those things.

And sometimes I do.

But last weekend, Phillip and Angie invited us out on their boat.

I’m incredibly thankful they did.

For a little while, life felt wonderfully normal.

We were back on Table Rock Lake.

The sun was out.

The water was beautiful.

I was with people I love.

And somewhere out there, I closed my eyes.

You know what happened next.

I took a boat nap.

My first one of the season.

Almost in October.

A Little Thing

It was a little thing.

But it felt pretty big.

I’ve learned this year that sometimes the things we once considered ordinary don’t feel so ordinary anymore.

You start appreciating things differently.

A drive.

Dinner with family.

Walking into my Taekwondo school.

Sitting outside.

Laughing with friends.

A beautiful afternoon on Table Rock Lake.

Even a boat nap.

Maybe especially a boat nap.

I think sometimes we get so focused on what we missed that we fail to notice what is still right in front of us.

I missed a lot this summer.

There’s no changing that.

But I don’t want to spend so much time mourning the summer I didn’t have that I miss the life God is still giving me today.

Because last weekend was good.

Really good.

And I was there for it.

Don’t Miss What Is Still Here

One of the lessons I’ve been learning through all of this is that gratitude doesn’t require everything to be the way you wanted it to be.

You can be disappointed and grateful at the same time.

You can wish things had been different and still recognize something beautiful when it happens.

You can acknowledge what you’ve lost without allowing it to blind you to what you still have.

Maybe that’s what made that boat nap feel like more than a boat nap.

It was a little piece of normal.

A little piece of summer.

A little piece of something I love that I thought I had missed completely this year.

And maybe it was a reminder, too.

I’m still here.

There are still beautiful days ahead.

There are still people to love.

There are still memories to make.

There are still reasons to laugh.

There are still opportunities to get back on the water.

And apparently, there are still boat naps to take.

This wasn’t the summer I wanted.

But last weekend reminded me that I don’t have to get everything back at once.

Sometimes you just appreciate the little pieces when they come.

The boat is still floating.

The lake is still beautiful.

God is still good.

And I can still take one heck of a boat nap.

I’ll take it.

Building Champions in Life

— Mr. Mike