Boating with Bob

We have this amazing friend and neighbor named Bob. He was our Home Teacher from the day we moved in way back in 1994 and has been ever since. Now he is our ministering brother, but that hasn't made any difference. He just takes care of us.

Today he took us boating on the Jordanelle. I had not been boating since I was a child unless you count rafts, so this was a new experience. We had our four youngest with us as well as Twizlet, but Bob has a new boat that is bigger, so it could accommodate all of us.

As we whipped across the water, Twizlet giggled and watched the birds. Then we inflated the tube and Baby Doll and Curly had a great time bouncing across the waves churned up by the boat. After a while, Sport and Scout wanted a turn, so Bob reeled in the little kids and the big ones ventured onto the tube. They had just gotten themselves settled, when it became evident that we had a problem. The rope had tangled itself around our motor.

Mid September in Utah is still pretty warm, but the Jordanelle is always cold. Bob knew we had to get rid of the rope before we could take the boat to shore and there was only one way to do that. So he handed off his sunglasses and sandals and plunged into the cold water.

Little by little he removed pieces of the damaged rope. After about 20 times of forcing himself beneath the waves, the rope was finally free. We had long since put away the tube and the kids were quietly watching as our amazing friend finally climbed back into the driver's seat, shivering and thirsty.

He should have then run us straight to shore so he could get warm, but he never thinks of himself first. He still wanted to salvage the day so we chased the waves a little longer before he took us back to the dock. Now that is true ministering and a lesson for all of us.