Sailing

Jonathon has always been fascinated with sailing and learning to sail. A few years ago, he and Christian went sailing with a company in Monterey, CA while we were visiting. They got to go out into the bay for an awesome ride, but it wasn't hands on. This year, he heard about a man who offered free sailing lessons for families at Utah Lake. He signed up for it and invited his family to join us for Family Home Evening one evening in August.

The man who owns the boats, Jim Daniels, just does the activities for fun, which is so nice of him. (You can, however, give a donation if you want!) First, we all worked together to get the boats off the trailer and set up the sails.

He gave us a brief, 5-10 minute lesson on sailing, and then let us try it out. The wind was not on our side that day, so the boats moved very slowly with the minimal breeze. We might not have sailed very quickly, but it was still fun to be out on the water. Christian and Andrew asked if they could swamp the boat and learn how to get it back up. One of Jim's sons helped them learn how to do it. They loved that part, even if it was much harder than they expected.

My favorite part was seeing all of the colorful boats against the blue of the water. It was so picturesque! Since there was so little wind, we also had the option to go out in canoes. We spent about an hour out on the lake.

 
After we were finished for the night, the instructor spoke to us for a few minutes about the life lessons that he has learned from sailing. I thought this was the most poignant part of the whole evening. He said, "If we have the right mindset, we can find life lessons in everything we do." So true! It really put everything into perspective for us.

I also loved the poem that he gave us called "Whichever Way the Wind Doth Blow" by Caroline A. Mason. It speaks of relying on Heavenly Father to guide us through the storms and winds and trials of our life, just like a vessel on the sea. Sometimes when we pray for a "favoring breeze," it isn't what is best for us, and we just need to have faith that Heavenly Father will help us... whatever breezes blow.