A Buoy on the Water

  This past weekend, my organization held a missionary retreat at a beach house on the Pacific coast. A precious team of individuals came from Canada to minister to us over the course of the weekend. It

Our GORGEOUS retreat site

was the fourth time that this specific team from Canada had come to minister at the retreat, and each of the members of the Canadian team has held a special place in my heart since meeting them four years ago.

  During the first session, the speaker challenged us to go “all in”. He challenged us to consider what it would look like if we went “all in” in every aspect of our lives (including our relationships with God) and to consider any obstacles which may be keeping us from going “all in”. At the end of the session, he challenged us to take a prophetic action to symbolize us going “all in”. He suggested jumping into the pool, or another symbolic act that would serve as a declaration that we were committing to go “all in”. I was undecided as to what action I would take and decided to let the Holy Spirit show me what to do.

 Following the first session, a friend and I walked out to the beach to talk. We shared our hearts, tears, doubts, fears, and plans for the future. As the conversation started drawing towards an end, something caught my eye in the water. Literally riding on top of the waves as if being pushed from behind was a buoy. This buoy was on a direct course towards us. It was being “pushed” at a remarkable speed and was being picked up by each passing wave and heading directly towards us.

The Beach

As I watched the buoy I heard the speaker’s words echo in my mind “will you go “all in”?”. Without missing a beat, I yelled “I’m going in. I’m going “all in”” and I jumped into the water and began to run towards the buoy as it in turn headed towards me. As I ran towards the buoy I realized that there were other missionaries on the beach watching this incident and briefly imagined what they may be thinking. I also considered briefly what would happen if the water got deeper before I reached the buoy (I was wearing regular clothing) but quickly decided that I would swim if needed to reach this buoy (having grown up on the beach swimming is not an issue for me).

Fortunately, swimming was not required all though my shorts definitely showed evidence of going “all in”. I grabbed the buoy and turned to walk out of the water with my “treasure from the sea”. As I walked out of the water, a smile spread on my friend’s face. “I’m not sure what this is all about, “ I said, “but I heard the words “will you go “all in”” and so I did.”

I carried the buoy back to the beach house and retold the story of seeing the buoy and hearing the words that sent me running into the waves. I received various words over what the event symbolized and decided to keep the buoy as a keepsake and a reminder to go “all in”.

If you know me, you know I have the tendency to do “crazy things”. Honestly jumping in the ocean

The Buoy

and chasing down a buoy is not something that most people would have a hard time imagining me doing. However, even I… a usually confident extrovert… did have some doubts in the midst of the stepping out. I thought about what the other missionaries would think/say. I worried about the depth of the water and getting my clothes wet. And honestly… some of the reactions of disbelief/”that’s silly” jabbed at my confidence a slight bit. I did think.. maybe this is just a “crazy thing”…

However, sometimes GOD CALLS US TO DO CRAZY THINGS… He calls us to step out… sometimes making a “fool of ourselves”… sometimes to be critiqued by other believers… to call us to go “all in”.

So, what about you? Are you willing to go “all in”? What would that look like for you? What may be holding you back? Are you concerned about what others may think/say?

Don’t be. Go all in. You won’t regret it.

…and maybe you’ll even get a funky buoy to put on a shelf to remind you of the crazy adventure that God has you on.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate having you on this journey with me.

-Meaghen