The Fishing Dock

Here is a story I wrote about an experience I had with some friends in July of 2006. I guess it's quite delayed, but it meant a lot to me so I thought I would share it with you all....

The Fishing Dock
The five of us, after searching everywhere for our new friends, finally realized that we had missed them. We didn’t get to say goodbye. They had left the campsite before we could give them hugs, exchange contact information, or tell them we would miss them. As we reached the end of the campgrounds, we came across a lake. The water was crystal clear and perfectly still. The morning sun’s rays reflected off the water and the vibrant green forest surrounded the lake. The trail we were on led to a dock. It was an ordinary, wooden fishing dock that floated on the cold, silent water. Devastated and hopeless, we stumbled to the edge of the dock. After talking about how sad we felt, Jenny announced that she was going to pray. We all held hands and sat down in a circle on the fishing dock. Each of us said a prayer, thanking God for the opportunity we had to share the story of His love with the kids from France we met the night before. We prayed we could be able to see them again some day, if it was His will, and that the seeds we planted in them would grow until they too, blossomed with the love of Christ. After our prayer, we sat in silence, feet in the water, humbled by our God’s creation – in awe of the beauty around us.
The moment felt bittersweet. We wanted to see our friends again, but still, everything about that morning just felt right. As we looked out at the indescribable creation, we were reminded of how big our God is. He created everything we saw in front of us, and that was only a very small portion of it. Our God was so transcendent, and yet he listened to these five high school girls on a fishing dock. Not only did He listen to us – he answered our prayers. Later that summer, we were blessed to be able to meet up with the French family at the State Fair.
The moment on the fishing dock was also the moment I realized how blessed I was to have been given a close circle of friends who shared my passion of glorifying God in all I do. As I look back over the past couple of years following that morning, I see that God used that moment as the starting point of a precious and lasting friendship between the five of us. We’ve grown together a lot since then. We have had a few struggles together, we’ve changed and matured, we’ve learned to carry each others’ burdens, we’ve been forced to say goodbye to each other as some move or graduate high school, and yet we still remain close in the end. We’ve learned that each moment we spend together is God’s and our lives are His. By keeping Him at the center of our friendship, we have experienced a friendship far more deep and close that many have known.
We’ve gone through many changes, and things will continue changing, but I know that our friendship will always be cherished by each of us. The morning on the fishing dock was a major turning point in our friendship, and ultimately a major turning point in my life. I’ve learned to strive for more “fishing dock moments” and although my friends and I have shared so many memories together since that morning, I always look back and remember it as one of the greatest moments of my life.

Love, Hannah