River Rafting

When I was about  fourteen, my family went to Lava Hot Springs for a family reunion.  We decided to go tubing down the river nearby.  When we got to the place we wanted to be, I noticed there were two little waterfalls.  They seemed harmless enough and I thought "I could do that without flipping over," as I watched everyone else flip and rush for their tubes.  I thought I was way more skilled and could control my tube.  So I got in the water and floated towards the rushing waterfalls.

As I got closer I started to get nervous, I was going a lot faster then I thought.  I made it past the first waterfall, but on the second I flipped over and hit my head on a rock just under the current.  I felt like I was drowning.  I struggled to reach the top to breathe and once I was able to take a breath I panicked while rushing and searching for my tube.  My brother saw my struggle and came to my rescue.  I eventually got my tube and struggled again to get on top. My legs were scrapped up from the rocks below and my head was pounding. After the struggle of getting on top of my tube, I found my heart still pounding hard and I was a little shakin' up.  I couldn't believe I had done that. I almost drowned in those rapid waterfalls.  What was I thinking?

I learned a great lesson from this experience and one I will never forget. First of all, when you want to go down a waterfall thinking you can do it without flipping over...if everyone else is flipping, chances are you will too. :) Second of all, I learned a great lesson of the importance of listening.  My cousin warned me and told me that it was a little dangerous  but I ignored the warning and went ahead anyway.
This is just like the spirit.  When we are headed into dangerous waters, the spirit always warns us, but if we ignore those warnings we may get caught in a trap.  We may get sucked under the current unable to breathe. It is important that we listen to the holy ghost and his promptings especially when headed into dangerous waters.  He will lead us and help us make right decisions.  Decisions that will make all the difference in our lives.  What a blessing it is to have the holy ghost by our side if we will do those things the lord has asked of us!