{"id":1284,"date":"2019-09-19T21:19:42","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T01:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/?p=1284"},"modified":"2019-09-19T21:19:46","modified_gmt":"2019-09-20T01:19:46","slug":"deep-and-wide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/2019\/09\/19\/deep-and-wide\/","title":{"rendered":"Deep and Wide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A flooded river stood between them and home. The heavy rains\ncoupled with the narrow river bed had made the water rise much higher and run\nmuch faster than usual. It wasn\u2019t safe for them to cross. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris went first. He fought for balance with every step; the\ncurrent struggled to pull him off his feet, and the water boiled above his\nknees like a thick stew, filling his shoes with gritty silt. As he set down his\nbackpack on the far bank and turned around to return to the small group huddled\nat the water\u2019s edge, he was thinking, \u201cHow are they going to make it?\u201d The\nvillagers were far shorter and lighter than he was, and one of them was\ncarrying a toddler in a string bag on her head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before he could say anything, an old woman stepped into\nthe surging water, her arms outstretched and her eyes full of confidence. What\ncould he do? He took her arms and helped her across, each of his steps\nanchoring each of hers. The current was so strong that as they approached the\nopposite shore she was swept off her feet by the relentless pull, and only\nChris\u2019 strength saved her from a painful dip in the freezing water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Chris set her down on the solid, rocky riverbank and\nturned back again, the old woman\u2019s husband was the next to reach out his arms\nand plunge his gnarled bare feet into the muddy river. Chris walked him across,\nwhere he, too, was lifted off his feet by the current and became completely\nreliant on Chris\u2019 tiring legs. And then the next person stepped into the water.\nAnd the next. And the next. The woman with the child handed the baby in its\nstring bag cradle to Chris rather than attempt to carry him across herself.\nTotal trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That evening, after he had made it home soaking wet, cold,\nand exhausted, he told me the story. It seemed that the people didn\u2019t need to\nthink twice about letting him ferry them across a river they would never\nattempt to cross alone. It made me think: Do I trust as much as those people?\nWhen I am confronted by an obstacle that seems insurmountable \u2013 maybe even\ndangerous \u2013 do I hold my arms out and step in and trust that God will bring me\nthrough? Am I willing to dangle my child over a raging river so that someone\nstronger than me can carry him across? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now I feel like I am in the middle of the river. I\nhave come a long way, and not by my own strength. But now I am starting to look\ndown at the swirling water, dark with mud and so cold. I am pulling my arms\nback, too afraid to go on. What if I fall? What if my next step is into a hole?\nWhat if there is a big rock down there that I can\u2019t see? And furthermore, I\nbrought my kids to the middle of the river with me. Now what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to give it all away \u2013 all the worry, all the\npressure, all the planning, all the need to be sure\u2026 I want someone stronger\nthan myself to carry my children. I want to put myself into the arms of someone\nwho is certain. I want to trust and just keep on walking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If God can part a sea, He can bring me across a river. If God can count the hairs on my children\u2019s heads, he can carry them, too. If He can watch his own son die to save me, then He can be trusted. So I will reach out for him and take another step. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A flooded river stood between them and home. The heavy rains coupled with the narrow river bed had made the water rise much higher and run much faster than usual. It wasn\u2019t safe for them to cross. Chris went first. He fought for balance with every step; the current struggled to pull him off his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":488,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1284","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/488"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1284\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/chris-hostetter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}