My Husband's Voice

Yesterday could have been such a horrific day.  It could have been one that changed our lives drastically for the worst.  But instead, i got to watch my husband walk back into our home with our kids swarming him on both sides and his nephew in his arms!

All of my blog posts come from inspiration from God.  I will never claim to be anything but a vessel.  This post is no different.  Without God's powerful Hands of protection, this post would not be happening.  The following will be the story from my husband's eyes.  Please remember that there is so much more to add when you consider each of the guys' perspectives.  There may be a day in the future when I can write theirs also, but for now, this is Luke's.  Please also note that this is the "quick" version with some details left out here and there. 

Duck hunting in freezing cold weather, with windy conditions=perfection.  The guys went out for one last really good hunt before the season ended.  On board was Luke, Jay and Ray.  They had a successful hunt and was ready to load the boat back up and head home.  On their way to the boat launch Jay started yelling that they were taking on water.  Luke, without any sense of fear, turned around to throw the boat in reverse and hit the bilge pump.  As he turned back around he found that Jay was halfway under water.  Luke remembers that it wasn't just a little water coming in, but rather gushing over the nose.  Less than 10 seconds, and the boat was gone.  Luke describes the feeling as if the boat just dropped out from under them.  Thankfully they had their lifejackets within reach, because that is all they had time to grab. 

The icy water literally took their breath away!  Luke immediately grabbed his phone and dialed 911.  The call got cut off, but then they called Luke's phone back.  Unfortunately Luke couldn't open the phone and answer it!  With virtually no hope around, Luke starts looking for a way to get out of the situation.  Jay and Ray were closer to each other than Luke was.  Jay immediately grabbed Ray and helped him get into his lifejacket.  As Jay was yelling for Luke to help hold Ray up, Luke knew that the only chance for him to stay afloat at all was the drifting bags of duck decoys.  Luke was the one out of the group to have waders on that day.  In one sense, he believes that the boots and neoprene helped keep his body temperature warmer, but all of that wouldn't have mattered if he didn't get to those decoys, because the waders were taking on water and becoming extremely heavy.  With no hope of getting them off because they virtually suction cup to your body, Luke had to start swimming because he knew that his lifejacket wouldn't have held him up.  As he reached the bags, he turned around to take them back to the guys and realized that they had floated 50 yds. apart.  Luke starts back paddeling.  He is being guided by Jay's voice.  He gets to within 10 feet and simply can't get any closer.  If you know Jay and Luke at all you will understand how tired they both had to be to say that they simply couldn't get any closer.  Luke's arms had gone numb at this point and all he could do was drape himself over the bag, pray, kick and wait.  They start screaming for help and wonder if anyone can hear them. 

At this same time, I was at home doing the office work, and a physical feeling came over my knees, prompting me to pray.  I had no idea what God was prompting me to pray for but i just kept praying, going a couple times back to Luke and protection over him.  It dumbfounds me how much God was in control.  Something i totally know, but in a moment like that, ALL of His Promises become a reality!

Finally they start seeing people on shore.  They are desparetly trying to get some sort of boat in the water to get to them.  One boat was without oars and the other was chained up.  They were helpless to just watch.  Finally the rescue team showed up with a boat and they were able to drag all 3 men on board.  At this point Ray was unconscience so they flew him immediately to a bigger hospital.  Jay and Luke rode in the same ambulance to the nearby hospital.  Upon arrival, Luke's core temp. was at 86.1.  The doctor assured me that it was "close" for Luke.  He said that he hasn't seen too many people as cold as him. 

All three guys took a couple of hours to warm completely back up. But by the grace of God, they all 3 went home that same night! 

As I layed beside him last night, him and i both had the same thought, "what if this was the first night without him."  what if this and what if that!  The reality of it is, God just said "not today boys".  Luke will tell you without hesitation that it is nothing but God's Hand that pulled them out of the water.  Nothing else can explain why for 20-40 minutes in freezing cold, Luke was completely coherent, and Jay was able to hold a man up along with himself.  All of these men wearing layerrrrrrssssss of clothing!  I have talked to an ER doctor friend of ours and he said he can not believe that they were able to do that!  ME EITHER! 

I pray that through this story, God is glorified over and over...i am thankful beyond words as well as the rest of all of our families that we get to hear their voices ringing throughout our homes tonight!  It is the best sound i've ever heard!