I can’t swim.

Yep, 70 years old and when I hit the pool I don’t get in past my rib cage!  I can’t float; I can’t doggie paddle; and I can’t do the backstroke.  In fact, to do the dead man’s float I will have to actually be dead!  When I was in college I went to the school psychiatrist and got a waiver for the swimming requirement!  It all stems from the time when I was five that I almost drowned and was never able to get over the near innate fear of the water.

Now, you are probably wondering why I am sharing all of this with you under the title of “Cruise Control.”  Well, this Sunday my wife and I, and my daughters, Melissa and Meredith, and their whole families, are going on a Caribbean Cruise.  Thirteen of us will meet up in Galveston, where we will disembark for Cozumel, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands.  Our trek will take us eight glorious days!

You may now be wondering, “If you are that afraid of water, why the smash are you agreeing to go out in the middle of the ocean?”  The answer is actually a very simple one:  I want to spend time with all of those whom I love!  Plus, I know God’s Good News concerning my situation!

You see, I know that I don’t have to worry because I can’t float, because God can make even an axe head float (II Kings 6:5-7).  And, I know that I don’t have to worry because I don’t know how to swim, because God can make a man walk on water (Mt. 14:29).   And, I don’t have to worry about a terrible storm hitting our ship, because I know that all God has to do is say, “Peace be Still!” (Mark 4:39)  Isn’t it Good News to know that our lives don’t have to be stymied by our fears, because God is greater than any of them?  That’s why for the next week or so, I’m going to put my life on “Cruise Control,” because I know that, in reality, it is on “God Control!”