The Gilbaugh Family Adventure is born.

Gilbaugh Family Adventure Days
September 2012

So it has been a desire of mine since we moved to Washington State 11 years ago to 'float a river'. I finally decided that unless I set it up it was never going to happen. I ordered the 'river rat' tubes on Amazon and set labor day weekend as the day. I put out a facebook request for any suggestions local friends might have on a good 'family friendly' river to float... The Green River in Flaming Gyser State  park. I was assured it was not very swift and rather shallow. Ok, I thought, we can do that. We invited a friend and her son to join us and she met us in the parking lot at work to caravan to the park in Auburn. It was a gorgeous day and we arrived around 10am before the labor day crowds, picnic baskets and our new uninflated tubes. My friend brought a cool air pump that plugs into the car charger and 30 minutes later we were ready to get our feet wet. Andrew and I were teatherd together as were Mark and Abbey. I had a fabric lunch bag tied to my tube with 6 water bottle inside. Now begins the few very bad decisions that will alter the day... Bad decision #1, I don't need shoes in the water. I will just wear my crocs until I get in my tube then tie them to the side so I have them when we get to the end and need to get out. I don't know if you are aware of this but rocks in a river bed are extremely slippery and in WA they are very round... No grip... After I finally get my big fanny in my tube and Andrew is floating us out into the stream I think... 'ok, we can do this... I can't feel my butt or my feet as they are currently froze from the glacier run off we are sitting in but it's ok..  This is gonna be fun... Then comes epic failure #2, Andrew and I are floating along so nicely I decide to take Marks iPhone out of the waterproof case I had purchased and attached to my life vest. I wanted to get a picture of Mark and Abbey getting in the water. Mark looks up and says 'what are you doing with my phone out? There is a big branch headed toward your head! Turn around!!' I reply with 'theres nothing I can do! I don't know how to turn this dumb tube around!' about that time BANG! And I get thrown out of my tube and am now submerged in the freezing water. Now please keep in mind, I have on a fleece Old Navy sweatshirt (ever held one of those soaking wet?) and I also have Marks phone in my hand! Yep. It ALL, went under. I am frantically trying to get my bare feet under me (the water isn't that deep, just moving swiftly) and trying even harder to keep the phone above my head OUT of the water. Then it hits me. The waterproof case attached to me that is open is now full o water...has our car key in it! To add to the excitement Andrew, still safely in his tube, is caught in the current and his tube is dragging me out into the river... Not IN my seat... I keep yanking him back to me all the while trying to keep the phone up and the phone case from flushing our car key. Somehow, by the grace of God, mark and Abbey make their way to us. Abbey holds on to Andrew and Mark is trying to help me back into my raft. I am so drenched and cold I am seriously questioning what I was thinking. Because this was NOT what I had in mind when I dreamed of  'floating a river'.
I am finally reseated and have the now soaked phone back in the not so waterproof case and have secured the key. Ok. Deep breath. We can do this. Mark and Abbey go on down the river and I see what is about to be another adventure... Another low hanging branch and there is NO  way to avoid it. My friend and her son are already tangled in it then Mark gets he and Abbey through... Now come the wet rat and her terrified little son... I was at least facing forward when we hit this one but our tether rope got tangled in the overhang. Michelle is still wrestling her way out and we are smacking into each other. Then DUMP! Yep, I go under again. About this time I'm  ready to scream but don't want to freak out the kids. Not because I was drowning but because I was annoyed! Michelle gets out and I finally get our rope undone but that's when I realize that my inner tube is all but flat... Apparently I didn't seal it very well in the beginning. I swim over to Mark and Abbey waiting on a rocky open spot in the river bed. I slip slide my way (no shoes, remember) to them where Mark grabs hold of everyone and sighs and says :Ok, so lets reevaluate what we are doing well and what could use some improvement. The tethering was a good idea... " then he started re-inflating my tube for me. As we reenter the water I am soaked, freezing, actually pretty much numb by now and ready to run back to the car and cry. But there is no way back but forward. The rest of the "float" was relatively uneventful. I noticed a water bottle in the river and thought, "someone is littering!" only to look down at the bag I had tied to the side of my tube that is now empty... I was the one littering!  We also came up to a shallow area that required us to lift our butts up to attempt to get through it all the while Mark and Abbey sail smoothly past us on the other side in the deeper water. Andrew is now beyond freaked out and I am just tired and done. But I wanted this adventure so I had to see it through. By the time we arrived at the exit point everyone is on the bank waiting for us and I am so relieved it is finally over. I waddle and stumble up the bank, soaked, frozen to the core, feet bleeding but trying to laugh to my kids saying " That was awesome!!! Can we do it again?!" Are you nuts? We barely escaped with out lives! Ha! We had lunch, packed up and headed for home. And this is where the Gilbaugh Family Adventure comes from. That was such an adventure we decided to do something random each month as a family... oh the stories we will tell... 

Obedience = Success

Our culture directly associates Godly obedience with success, and consequently we associate failure with disobedience.

If I have been obedient, why did my company fail. Why did I fail? Was I fully obedient? Perhaps God does not view failure the same way that we do here on Earth.

I have prayed for 6 years that God would transform me into the man, husband, father, and leader that He wants me to become.

If my business had been successful, and I had become wealthy then I would have become self-reliant. I would not have needed God to intervene in my daily activities.

He is far more concerned with my character and my relationship with Him than the size of my checkbook balance or my influence here on Earth.

While I was going through the trial, many around me assumed that I must have been disobedient since my business failed so miserably. I was told to "go get a job," but I continued to follow the Lord each day.

During those difficult times, food arrived miraculously. Checks came mysteriously. Work that funded our necessities flowed regularly. Our family pulled closer together, and we became totally dependent on Him for our daily needs. He never failed us.

My heart has been changed, my character has been molded, and my relationship with Him has been strengthened through the pain of my failures. I believe that none of these changes would have happened if my first business attempts had been instantly successful.

When I felt directed by the Lord to get a job, He directed my paths and led me to an organization where I was needed. He sent me to a place where He could use me to make a difference.

Looking back on the past 6 years, I do believe that I was obedient throughout the entire process. I believe that He wanted to strip me down to bare metal before building me back up again. I have come to learn that God views success and failure differently than I do.

As I continue to heal from the pain of failure, I can start to see that God has answered my prayer and given me my heart's desire. I am becoming the man, husband, father, and leader that He created me to be.

My obedience has resulted in a successful transformation that did not happen in the way I imagined, but He is still God and I am forever changed.