and death shall have no dominion

Well, I almost drowned on Saturday afternoon.

I was at my trailer, and the owner had recently purchased a water slide for the lake, and I was thinking, "Dang! That is a sweet slide I might say!" So I decided to go swimming...

...about 1/3 of the way there I got a huge mouthful of water and started coughing a lot, to the point that I couldn't catch my breath. At around this time I realized that I had forgot to keep moving my arms and legs (bad idea in 10 feet of water full of 6 foot weeds).

So I turned around and franticly swam back to the shallows. As I was getting there a woman grabbed my hand and led me to the beach. I collapsed on a bench. My legs were so sore that I couldn't even move them for at least 10 minutes.

I need to get into better shape. (As a side note, how ironic that I almost drown while in the middle of writing a long poem about drowning).

The funny thing is... the thought of drowning didn't really bother me. What bothered me was that I had not prayed or read the bible yet that day. Dying is not a problem... dying on a day that I haven't given my all to God... that would be a problem. This reminded me that I need to give a consistent effort toi bring glory to God everyday.

I also realize that there is at least one someone who doesn't want me alive, because the sooner I am dead the less I can preach the gospel. Well, let me tell you this: You have tried this twice before; you will not succeed. The Lord will protect me until my mission is complete. You lose, remember that.

And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan't crack;
And death shall have no dominion
(from, "And Death Shall Have No Dominion" by Dyan Thomas)

And Christ shall have dominion.