Endurance--A Must Read

My journal entry 03.13.08 3:00 p.m.

Oh! I just finished reading an amazing, unbelievable book! Everyone must read!
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing (Carroll & Graf Pub., Inc, NY, NY: 1959) [13th printing Jan. 2000].

I have been keeping cool in my seventh month of pregnancy by reading of this voyage to Antarctica and the 27 men and their leader--devoted, responsible and excellent at caring for men's lives--Shackleton.

They got stuck in pack ice off the Antarctic coast, drifted north for months living on an ice floe, suffered more than 70 (?) days of darkness during the Antarctic winter, trudged through the wet and icy seas in 3 rescue-life boats--finally made it to Elephant island--where 22 men camped for 4 months while the rescue boat of 6 men took the perilous journey through the stormy, windy, Drake passage with its currents and dangers.

They then landed on South Georgia island--miracle after miracle--3 of the 6 hiked overland--an impossibility never before attempted over frozen razor mountains and glaciers. When they at last, after 17 unbelievable months reached the peak before their goal--the whaling station--they strained their ears to hear a workman's whistle! They made it!!! They then rescued the 3 on the other side and finally the 22 on Elephant Island--3 more months later.

When those 22 guys at last saw their rescue ship I felt like I was there!! Their salvation had come for which they waited and hoped for daily! They always looked for their leader to return and almost thought it impossible, but sure enough he came!! He called out: "Are you all right?" and they knew their leader was back and they were saved. A miracle!

I don't know how any of them survived it without God (maybe some prayed). The Creation of God and all the men saw and experienced of Him makes me in awe of how powerful God is and how much humans can actually survive.

If only we all waited for our rescue and salvation with such hope and anticipation. You would think they would try to go on living, knowing it would possibly come, if ever, in a very unknown amount of time. But daily they made a routine of hiking the hill to look in hope eagerly for their salvation from the island.

We should only wait so eagerly for our salvation and Christ's return--our Savior--our fearless leader--who will not forget us or leave us here but will return--without fail and without a doubt--for our rescue! We should not let a day go by that we don't hike up the hill to look for and wait for our Lord--eagerly hoping for his swift return.

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." Philippians 3.20