Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Warning Signs



Just as we put our jet skis into the clear water, it started to rain. 

Not just any rain but rather, big fat droplets falling in a rapid down pour. I was freezing, circling my jet ski, waiting for my sister who was having troubles starting the one that she was on. My little sister held on tightly to my life jacket, all the while, we all were wondering who in the world thought that this was a fun idea. Finally my older sister was able to start her jet ski, and we took off, with hopes that the rain and storm would blow over soon. 

We were trying out a new lake that had really pretty scenery, that is, if we were able to see it through the pelting rain. I squinted through the hail-like water droplets, goosebumps on my arms and legs. We were trying to find the beach where we could wait out the storm, but we didn’t know where exactly where it was located. We had a ways to go. 

We stopped out in the middle of the lake. We were all not having fun. That’s when my sister noticed my hair, and I saw her hair. Even though our hair was in braids, both of our wispy’s and loose strands were standing strait up! Like if you were to have rubbed a ballon on our heads, and the static makes the hair stand strait up. We all knew what that meant. We were out in the middle of water, in a storm. We didn’t see any visible lightning, but knew we were in serious danger of getting struck by it. 

So, what do we do now?!? 

First of all, we didn’t have many options. We had to get to the beach and get off the water! We could barely see what we thought was the beach, so we headed for it as fast as we could. The rain stung, but the urgency to get off the water was the only thing that mattered. I prayed, and I prayed hard. 

We made it to the beach, and pulled our jet skis up far enough onto the sand so that they wouldn’t float away. We safely made it to the RV where we told our scary adventure to our parents. It was one of those moments when we knew our angels were with us and watching out for us!

You know, I can’t help but think what would have happened if we hadn’t payed close attention to the warning signs we were given. If we would have stayed out on the water and waited for the storm to pass.

There are warning labels and caution signs everywhere. Whether it be driving on the road, or on a child’s play toy. And we must take these signs seriously for our own good. 

Do you think God has given us warning signs? How about when He told or more like warned, Adam and Eve NOT to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:16,17 
“And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Every warning sign comes with a consequence. If we wouldn’t have listened to our warning sign of our hair standing strait up, our consequence could have been getting struck by lightning. For a driver who didn’t heed the speed limit sign around a tight curve, that consequences might result in rolling the car. For a parent who did not heed the sticker on a small toy, the consequence might be for their child to choke on it. For Adam and Eve, since they did not heed the warning of God, their consequence resulted in death. 

Don’t be fooled by the looks of things. We didn't see the lighting, but that doesn't mean it wasn’t there. A driver might think that the turn wasn’t very sharp, but he wouldn’t have known until he was right upon it. A parent might read the warning label as a silly suggestion, but that doesn’t mean their child will not want to stick it in their mouth. Adam and Eve saw that the fruit looked good, and were tricked by Satan to not listen to God’s warning. 

There are lots of warnings in the bible that we should NOT ignore. One big one for me is, to get ready for Jesus to come again. He is coming quickly! And we need to be ready when he comes. We don’t want to fall asleep (Matthew 25:1-13). 

We need to share this good news, because we have been chosen to be his hands and feet. Even if we are a very small part, even if we are his fingers and toes, if we are doing all that we know how, if we are striving to be His light, then we have done our part. 

And aren’t fingers and toes very important?! We might feel like we are so small and feel as if we don’t make an impact, but as long as we are following God’s direction, we ARE making a impact. Even the smallest of sparks, can still light a forest fire! 

So, summing up. Listen to the warnings around you. And most of all, take heed to God’s instructions and warnings in the Bible. 

Jesus is coming again! Lets do our part and shine our light! 

We were able to go back out on the water when the storm blew over. It turned out to be a very fun day! Here are some pictures I took...!









Have you ever been in a scary situation that you knew your angels helped you out of? Do you think warning labels are important? Have you ever gone jet skiing? What is one thing that you are thankful for today, right this second? 
Lets talk about it in the comments below! ;D






31 comments:

  1. Yikes!! Be careful!!!

    Right now I'm thankful I'm not closer to the beach...this hurricane is coming right into NC!!!

    Also, thankfully, my family keeps a crazy-ton of survival food in the basement, and the garage is PACKED with camping things, so we didn't even need to run to the store to get anything, lol

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    1. Ikr! :)

      Me too, I feel so sorry for those having to evacuate. I especially feel for those that are choosing to stay at their homes. I pray that they are kept safe!

      It's always good to be prepared like that! What kinds of food do you store? Do you like to dehydrate things?

      Thanks for commenting! :P

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  2. Wow. God sure was watching of you. It's so wonderful when you realize He loves you so much that He'll protect you no matter what!

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    1. He definitely was! God is so good to protect us, even from things that cannot be seen...

      I'm glad you stopped by, Liberty! (P.S. I really like your name!)

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    2. Awwwwww! Thank you so much! Most of the time when I tell people my name they say, "Oh, interesting" or "That's different"
      You're welcome, and you just got a new follower.

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    3. Your welcome! I think you have a really pretty name! And thanks for following! <3

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  3. This is my favourite kind of true story!
    I'm so glad y'all took notice of the warning signs, Brooklyn!
    And it's so cool how you turn your stories into advice! <3

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    1. Thanks for reading about our close call out on the lake, Danielle!
      God for sure sent His angels to protect us from getting struck by lightning.
      Thanks! Listening to warning signs is very important!

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  4. What an amazing story! I’m so glad you weren’t injured. :D This such a good lesson—God was definitely watching over you!

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    1. Thank you! God is amazing how He watches out for us! I'm so thankful that He kept us safe that day.
      Thanks for stopping by, Victoria! :)

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  5. Wow, what an amazing story! I'm so glad your angels were watching out for you all!

    There have definitely been times when I've known my angels were protecting me! One time this past summer, when it was looking stormy out, I was outside near our chicken house trying to get our kittens into a side section of the building where we were keeping them before it started raining. The wind suddenly picked up, and the thunder I was hearing in the distance before grew louder. I crouched next to the side of the building, still trying to get the energetic kittens to stay inside the little side door. As I was reaching for one of them, a small branch landed on my back. I then finally got enough sense to run back to the house and leave the kittens alone, who I knew would be fine. I realize now that I should have listened to the "warning signs" and got into the chicken house right away when the wind started blowing so hard... but amazingly, even in my absent-mindedness, my angels were still watching out for and protecting me. The branch that landed on my back made a small scratch -- which was my own fault for not getting to shelter sooner -- but I'm SO thankful to God that a bigger branch didn't fall on me, and that nothing like that fell on my head. It's just amazing how God is so merciful even when we don't do things right the first time. This situation has definitely taught me though to listen to His wisdom and heed the "warning signs" right away and not delay.
    (Anywho, sorry that was very long... :P)

    And one thing I'm thankful for right now is to have made so many wonderful Christian friends through blogging! (Like you! :) ) It's been such a blessing!

    (Also, I've never been jet-skiing before... but it sounds like fun!)

    This was a wonderful post, Brooklyne! You're such a great writer and photographer, and I love how much you glorify God through your writing! <3 Keep it up, girl! :)

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    1. It was definitely scary to see our hair stand up like that! But God is good, and He protected us from the lightning.

      Thanks so much for sharing one of your experiences. I bet that was scary to be caught in a storm with falling branches! I think our guardian angels work overtime on both of us! I wrote about another close call I had with my cousin called "Miracles and Angels" if you want to read it sometime... maybe you already have. ;)
      I'm really not that adventurous, but it seems like I must be accident prone! *shakes head* Just don't ask me to ride our little motorcycle we have had for like, forever! Lots of accidents that God has watched over me with that thing!
      Well, I'm so glad you weren't hurt badly that day when the branch fell on you!

      Me too! I've "met" so many amazing people all across the world through this blog! And I'm so glad your back! I thought you had disappeared off the blogosphere, its a good thing you didn't. Once again, I'm so glad your back! *hands you a plate of cookies* :)

      (You should really try it sometime! It's fun!)

      Thank you! And thank you, but really I'm just using the gifts that He has given me, gifts that I am just figuring out how much they mean to me. Writing has been such a amazing blessing for me!

      Keep shining for Him, Faith! <3

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    2. Yes, God is so good!

      Yes, it was a little scary, but thankfully there weren't too many branches falling and it was mostly little ones (maybe I made it sound more dramatic than it was), but it was still pretty wild, and God was so good in protecting me through that!
      Oh yes, I think I read that post! Again -- God's so good, and I'm so glad your angels were watching out for you all! :)
      Oh my! Well, I'm so glad the Lord is still watching out for both of us! ;) I enjoy reading through Scripture verses about God's promises for protection, like Psalm 91. If we keep our trust in Him and make Him our "dwelling place" then He says "no evil shall befall us"! :)
      Thank you! I'm glad, too!

      Yes! Hehe, yeah no, I'm still around! :) And thanks so much, I'm glad to be back! I guess I just got so caught up in real life and writer's block and all that craziness, and so I just didn't get to blogging there for a while. But hopefully I can get back to posting more regularly this Fall! *graciously takes plate of cookies* :D

      (I think I'd like to sometime if I get the chance!)

      :) Yes, I'm so thankful for and blessed by all the gifts God has given me as well! Writing has been such an amazing blessing for me, too. God's been so gracious to us, so it's wonderful when we can bless Him in return by using those gifts for His glory! <3

      You too! :) <3

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  6. God is always looking out for us, of course that doesn’t mean things will always go the way we want but at times He does intervene in times of danger. There have been many times where something has occurred and I’ve been more aware of how God is looking out us.
    Something I’m thankful for right this second? Ha I guess I’ll say the comfy chair I’m sitting in right now. :D.

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    1. Your totally right! But I think that God uses times like this, times where we know He was there, to help build our faith and trust in Him for times that are more unclear.
      Comfy chairs are great! *winks*
      P.S. I want to let you know that I am praying for you and your family. I pray that the hurricane passes quickly with minimum damage.

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  7. Amazing analogy, Brooklyne. So glad God was watching over y'all!! <3

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  8. God was looking after you, ultimately.

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  9. Wow, what a story! It's so cool and encouraging to get a glimpse of God's protection though! I wonder how many times He looks after us and we don't even realize it. I like how you paralleled it to the warning signs around us today too. Good points! :)

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    1. I'm so glad you found this story encouraging! It was scary at the time, but now I see how it can be a good object lesson to us.
      You know, it's funny, because me and my grandma were talking the other day, and she said the same thing! I bet God protects us from so many things that we cannot see. We will have to ask Him when we get to heaven.
      Thanks so much for commenting, Jesseca! :)

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  10. It was reported that a Hurricane was headed our way, when it hit we would have been in its direct path. People were saying that it was almost positively going to be a hurricane. The problem was, the house we live in is not very sturdy, when Harvey hit we thought the roof was going to get ripped off - and we were only on the outskirts of that storm. So our house most likely would not be able to handle being directly hit by the hurricane.
    There was nothing else to do but pray.
    Now the storm is no longer a hurricane, it will only be a tropical storm.

    So that's what I'm thankful for right now, that God has stopped the hurricane from forming.
    -Julia @Lit Aflame

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    1. I will definitely pray that your roof stays intact! These storms are very scary, but we have to remember that God will be with us through it all. Thanks for commenting, Julia!

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    2. Wow! That’s good that you ain’t gonna have your house destroyed and that’s God protected y’all!

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  11. Wow that's a cool (and kinda scary) comparison! Nice message! :)

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    1. Thanks, Mallory! I'm so glad I was able to write about our jet skiing adventures and turn it into a hopefully valuable object lesson! :)

      Thanks for reading! <3

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  12. This was a lovely post, Brooklyne! I really enjoyed reading it. :) That must have been SO scary in real life, though! About 10 years ago, my mom had a cardiac arrest and almost died. She was unconscious for several days and stayed in the hospital for three weeks. It truly was a miracle that God kept her alive and now she is just like a normal person except that she has to take pills! That was definitely a "guardian angel" moment in my life... or Mom's life. :) During that time, Mom's friend helped start a website called takethemameal.com, which has since blessed thousands of people! It's amazing how God can use anything for good, isn't it?

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    1. Thank you so much for reading! Wow! I bet that was so scary for your whole family! I am so glad God kept your mom safe. God really does work in amazing ways! And there is definitely power in prayer. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience!

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