Rescue

After a group bible study this week a woman approached me with a question.


She waited till most everyone had left then quietly said, “I have a niece who lives out of state that has a drug addiction. She’s tried to quit but she keeps going back to it. And now she’s in trouble with the law and she’s unemployed and practically homeless and wants me to bring her up here to help her try to fix her life again.


But I don’t know if I should. She’s been here before and there’s so much drama that comes with her. Even my other nieces and nephews and grandchildren have been caught up in it in the past. It’s like when she comes to town, she ruins our lives.


What should I do?”


I thought for a minute and then I told her this story, “When my brother and I were young we each took some lifeguard training classes. He was excellent and for a while became an ocean lifeguard. I was not as good of a swimmer and took a summer job renting out kayaks. In the first part of training though they always begin by teaching you this...


That when a person is in the full throws of drowning. When they are thrashing uncontrollably without any hope of swimming on their own, you cannot just rush in alone to save them. They are excessively panicked and in their adrenaline surge even a child can be stronger than you. They will grab you with complete desperation. In their terror they will actually push you under them in the water and try to stand on you just to get a few more seconds of oxygen. Ultimately they will drown you before finally drowning themselves.”


With tears welling up in her eyes the woman nodded her head in agreeance. Then I told her this story...


“A few weeks ago I was walking through the warehouse where I work and a co-worker of mine was passing by wearing a brand new, spotless, adult sized, little league baseball cap. I smiled and complimented him on the hat. He turned around, took off the hat and showed me where a boy’s name was embroidered on the side. It wasn’t his name so I asked whose name it is and he said his nephews. The team had just had these hats made in his honor over the weekend.


He then went on to tell me of his nephew and a few friends boating out at the lake a couple weeks ago. His nephew had been swimming just a few feet from the boat when he screamed out and began to splash rapidly. The thought is that he must’ve fully cramped up because he was normally a good swimmer. The boys girlfriend being in the boat jumped in the water and swam to help him only to grab his hand as his body went completely under. Later she said, “It was like something really heavy was pulling him down.” The whole thing was over in a matter of seconds. His fingers slipped from hers and the boy was gone. Hours later search crews recovered his body.


“Now,” I said “In answer to your question. We all have that fear that if we rush in to help someone, they might pull us down with them. And I’ll admit to you that an addict can destroy an entire city street with the violence, the thefts, the arson, and the chaos they’re world brings. In my life, watching not just myself but, my friends, family, co-workers and even a fiancé succumb to addictions. Watching some slip away quickly while others just seem to drown for years. All of it has really only made me wish for one thing: I wish was a better lifeguard.


And I guess that’d be my advice to you. Gather your family together. Explain to them that someone is drowning right in front of them and that’s dangerous for everyone. But if they can make a decision to bond together, to get educated, organized, and work as a team, you might be able to save her.


You’ll need literature, support groups, local counseling centers. You’ll probably even need to pool your money together for a treatment center. Then in about a week or two once you’re prepared, call your niece and tell her what the family has committed to do. Then go in and get her.


Then as I looked directly to this woman I could see her tears had been wiped away and replaced with a look of determination. I then said, “Even with your best efforts it’s going to be rough. You are consciously leaving the warm, dry, and safe comfort of your life to dive into the same freezing, thrashing hell that she’s drowning in.


She might fight you and in the end, might even slip from your fingers. Your fears are legitimate. But know this, she is drowning. And your own fear of drowning like her is not an excuse to just stand on the shore and watch.”