Listening for the call

 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” *

Earlier this year after the snow had melted and spring was in the air, my husband Al began to express the desire to stay at a lake for a few days so that we could listen to the loons. He and I had stayed at a remote place near Lake Huron several years ago, and he remembered the haunting sounds of the loons as they called to each other across the water.

Al tried calling that place, but discovered that they were only taking reservations for a week at a time with much higher rates. There are about 11,000 lakes in Michigan, not counting the Great Lakes…finding one with loons seemed like a big challenge.

 Al was discussing this with our friends, Dick and Molly Close, at a pancake breakfast on Memorial Day, when Dick suggested trying Lake St. Helen, about 142 miles north of our home.

“Oh, there are loons at Lake St. Helen,” Dick assured Al.

He ran into a problem when he tried to find lodging there too. After more investigation, he found a lake nearby, Clear Lake, with cabins available. If there were no loons at Clear Lake, we planned on driving to Lake St. Helen for a day in search of them!

A pleasant surprise awaited us when Al and I arrived and unloaded our luggage into a small, but attractive cabin at Clear Lake, “home” for the next three days. Pictured on the logo of the resort was a mother loon with babies following behind her! 

“ Yes, we have loons on the lake,” the groundskeeper told us later. “In fact, there was one hanging around the marina this morning.” 

We had reserved a rowboat with a small motor and decided to take it out the next day.  As we were getting ready to go, Alex, the groundskeeper shared some bad news: the motor of the rowboat was unreliable, stalling while he was checking it earlier that morning.

“But I can upgrade you to a pontoon boat for the same price, if you still want to go.”

That seemed like a good deal! Al wasn’t sure how to operate a pontoon boat; however, Alex told him that it wasn’t difficult and took him through the steps, from starting the engine to backing away from the dock, operating the boat while on the lake and then returning it to the marina.

 “Be sure to stay away from shallow places,” he cautioned. If we got marooned and needed to be pulled back to shore, there was a hefty charge!

 “Oh, and I hope you’ll see some loons,” he called as we started on our adventure.

Al guided the pontoon boat along the shoreline and then steered across the lake to a couple of small islands. It wasn’t long before we were rewarded with the sight of a female loon carrying two babies on her back and a male swimming close by.

I watched the loons with binoculars, while Al took pictures as he commandeered the boat. We were excited, even more so when one called to the other, perhaps an alert to danger. Mission fulfilled!

On our way back to the dock, we navigated near a cabin on an island. There was a narrow, arched bridge connecting the island to the mainland. Except for a light that beamed bright rays out over the lake all night long, the cabin was quite a hideaway!

The next day, I watched a woman throwing a plastic stick to her lab, who repeatedly dog-paddled through the water to retrieve it. When she and I started talking, he began splashing about trying to get her attention.

 “Manners!” she commanded, turning her back on him. Immediately he sat down, forgetting where he was. The water came up to his chin!

“I’ve never seen a dog ‘sit’ in water before,” I laughed. “He does have good manners!”

Friendly people, a beautiful setting and a nice adventure with Al to see and hear the loons…it was a great trip!

God is calling out to the world His good news of salvation through Jesus Christ! Have we heard His call and opened our hearts to Jesus? If so, are we helping to spread that good news to others? An adventure is waiting! Do you hear the call?

* John 3:16 NIV