Thirty-year-old Dan
Suski is a business owner, and his sister, 39-year-old Kate Suski, is an
architect.
Together they were doing well enough to take a
vacation to Puerto Rico. There they chartered a ship to take them out
for an all-day fishing trip. Now some might go fishing for a week and
not get a nibble, but Dan and Kate were only a few hours on the water
before a 200-pound marlin hit Dan's line.
That was when things
"began to go south."
While Dan was still fighting his fish, the
electrical system on the boat crackled and sparked. Water flooded the
engine room and cabin. In a few minutes the captain told them to get
into their life-jackets and abandon ship. They did as instructed and
were soon joined by the captain and his mate. Dan and Kate waited for
rescue to arrive. They waited for over an hour before they began the
eight-mile swim to shore.
With their minds and hearts filled with
imaginings of sharks and being swept further out to sea, they swam. They
swam when a downpour made them lose sight of land. They swam until the
sunset and then they swam some more. Eventually, around midnight they
approached shore -- a shore with high cliffs, no beach, and surf that
would have killed them, if they had tried to make landfall.
The
pair kept swimming until they found a small bit of sand. There on a
deserted beach, they came ashore and made their way inland. No help
could be found, so they fell asleep covered with branches and boughs.
The next day they walked three hours before they found someone who would
call for help.
Now, my friends, you should know there is a reason
why I have told you the story of Dan and Kate.
That reason is
supplied by Kate. After her release from the hospital she said, "We are
so grateful to be alive right now. ... Since this ordeal, I've been
waking up at dawn every morning. I've never looked forward to the
sunrise so much in my life."
I like that attitude.
Sadly,
it often takes a tragedy or a near catastrophe before people begin to
appreciate the day the Lord has made. Heart-attack victims, cancer
survivors have often told me how much differently they see life. In
other words, they value every 24 hours the Lord gives.
It's a
good idea, you know. Not that we have to be afraid of dying. Jesus'
sacrifice on Calvary's cross has made it so we don't have to fear
leaving this world. Still, as long as we are here, we should give thanks
for, and make use of, the time the Lord has bestowed. Like the man said,
"This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it."
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, may I truly give thanks for all Your
blessings. Most of all I rejoice in my Savior whose life, death and
resurrection has given me heaven. But let me also give thanks for this
day. May I give thanks and use it. This I ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Pastor Ken Klaus
Lutheran Hour Ministries All rights reserved;
not to be duplicated without permission.
