Fri 6/22 2:30pm

As I type this, Larry is sitting in a stranger's boat in the middle of Lake Tyler....waiting for his boat to run out of gas or hit something.

The cool thing is......God was really watching out for us today.  This morning he took Samuel & Savannah out fishing.  Sarah went to VBS with a friend & I did some grocery shopping @ Brookshire's.  I decided, on a fluke, to go meet Larry & the kids at the marina restaurant for lunch.  When we got done eating, Savannah & Samuel both said they were tired & wanted to go home w/ me.  Larry went back to the boat & drove off as we were pulling out of the parking lot.  Before we got out of the driveway, Savannah realized that her book was in Larry's truck, so we went back & got it.  As we left the parking lot the 2nd time, I looked back toward where Larry had been heading & that's when I spotted it.  His boat----without him in it---circling out of control in the middle of the lake.  Well, I THOUGHT it was his boat, but I wasn't certain.  I looked around it & didn't see anyone in the water, so I couldn't figure out where he was if that was indeed our boat.

A few months ago, a friend worked on the boat for us & this same thing happened to him---he got thrown out of the boat & while the motor was still running (the kill switch hadn't worked), he was stuck in the middle of the lake, swimming for dear life, trying to not get hit (& killed) by the circling boat.  So I realized the danger & pulled over in the parking lot to wait & see what happened.  About that time, another boat headed out toward our (?) boat & I saw it---they rescued a man with a red life jacket out of the water.  Yes...it was Larry.  A wave of relief rushed over me.  The boat can be torn up, broken, sunk, whatever.........but Larry can't be.

And what's more...if Samuel & Savannah had gone with him, they would've been in the water in what ended up being grave danger as well!!!!!

We sat & watched for a long time and finally saw one of the boats that had been out near him come to shore.  As soon as we spotted that boat, we ran to it & inquired as to what we already knew---that it was indeed Larry & that was our boat.  The man in the boat was very kind, offering to drive us out into the lake to see Larry for ourselves--to know he was ok.  However, since his boat was small & there weren't lifejackets for all of us, I declined.  We stood there at the shoreline with him & his family (a wonderful sweet Christian family!) for nearly an hour, watching the boat circle.  All this time, Larry is sitting in the middle of the lake with some strangers.

Eventually, the kind man went back out to where Larry was to tell him we were on the shore watching & to offer him his cell phone to call me.  He did call, said he was ok.  The game warden (lake warden?) showed up & was trying to figure out a way to stop the boat by then.  Several more boats were out there trying to jump in front of the circling disaster boat by then, everyone trying to figure out a way to get it stopped.  The game warden actually let the boat hit him a couple of times, thinking that would make it stop, but it just turned 1/2 way over, flipped back upright & kept going both times.  He tried to lasso the motor w/ a rope but couldn't get it.  Larry said to go ahead & take the kids and just go home.  From the shore, there was nothing we could do anyway, and really is he's safe & there are plenty of people there to help, it was the best choice.  And so....here we are, at home, wondering how long it'll take for the boat to run out of gas & finally stop....or how long it'll be before it reaches the shore & runs up the bank & dies.  Ugh.............anyone want a boat?

 

UPDATE:  

Ok, he's home.  The game warden was finally able to flip the boat over to get it stopped.  Of course, that means he lost all the stuff that was in the boat....but they did get it stopped.

 

He's embarassed about the whole thing & says he doesn't want anyone to know....so don't mention it to him.  I feel bad that I posted about it now b/c she just wants to try to forget it happened.  Let him bring it up if you do talk to him about it.  The thing is, he didn't do anything wrong, it was just a fluke accident.

 

He's taking the boat back to his dad.  Too many accidents for this one little boat.