Is the theory true that states after one is struck by lightning once, one is more likely to be struck again? Because if it is, me, my dad, and a good friend of ours are toast—literal toast people! 

It was an absolutely beautiful day in the middle of summer without a cloud in the sky, so we figured we’d go take out our ‘72 beast of a boat and have some fun on the water!  We invited some really good friends of ours to go enjoy the rays on the waves with us!  We prepped our boat and were off towards the water.

After we got the boat in the lake and got her running we were ready to have fun!  We did some sight-seeing, then tubed, and then tubed some more.  Flipping people off the tube and seeing who could last the longest took all of our focus from our surroundings.  Little did we know that all of the other boats on the water were heading in one direction—away from the ginormous, ominous black storm cloud coming over the tree lines in the distance but all too close proximity.  We knew we were in huge trouble.

Well, after we assessed our situation–being in the middle of the reservoir with our boat launch spot being towards the storm, and full of people trying to get their boats out–we did what any sane person would do… what everybody else was doing—boating away from it!  Sadly, the speed of our boat was disappointingly slow and gusts of wind from the storm blew causing us to go even slower, so we tried to hide by some steep sloping banks to shield ourselves from the wind and lightning. At least here we weren’t the tallest thing around.  We could hear the lightning hitting the trees on the top of the ledge and it happened… my mother panicked.  After this awful occurrence, my fate was changed forever.

In the adrenaline of the moment my mother somehow persuaded my father to leave our cozy, not so cozy, cove to hit the open waters so we could… move I guess.  We were going good and making good progress.  We had made it to the center of the reservoir whe–BOOM!!!

As all of our eyes readjusted to the lighting of the dark storm, we were shocked, literally, and amazed at what had just happened. In the middle of the lake, we were the tallest thing on the water. In a web of lightning coming down towards us, splintering in every direction around us, there were three little bolts that Lisa, Dan’s wife, said were approximately the size of a needle that hit me, my dad, and Dan square on the top of the head. All of this happened in the blink of an eye carrying with it a simultaneous boom!  Although we were all alright, we all still felt a little dazed by the experience.  After our all too shocking activities on the middle of the reservoir, we continued on course to the opposite bank where we hid until the storm had blown over.

After the storm had diminished, we made our way to a little marina at the end of the reservoir.  Here we recuperated from the eventful storm and kissed solid ground.  My mom actually sniffed my dad’s head to make sure nothing smelled burnt. We stayed there until we had deemed it safe to return to the water and then started our trek back to the boat launch.  As we were headed back, we realized—everybody else had left due to the storm… meaning, we had the lake to ourselves.  We of course took advantage of this and started tubing once again making it an enjoyable end of an almost tragic story!

Even though the experience was traumatic, we learned to always pay attention to our surroundings and never be on a lake in a boat during a thunderstorm.  Hence, mom won’t go out on the boat if there is rain in the three day forecast.  We are always reminded that God is good and his over-abundant grace will cover us always and especially in our hour of need.

Peace out,

Gavin