A Chain of Help

Let me tell you a story that happened this July on Panama City Beach in Florida.
Late in the afternoon, Roberta Ursrey saw her two young sons screaming for help from 100 yeards out into the ocean.
They had become caught in a strong current and were being carried out to sea.
A nearby couple tried to rescue the boys, but they also got caught in the current.
So members of the Ursrey family dove in to rescue the struggling swimmers, and quickly nine people were caught in the rip current.

There were no ropes.
There was no lifeguard.
The police sent for a rescue boat, but the people had been out in the ocean struggling for 20 minutes, and they were exhausted and their heads were slipping under the water.
Among the onlookers on the beach was Jessica Mae Simmons.
Her husband had the idea to form a human chain.
They shouted at people on the beach to help them, and dozens of people linked arms and marched into the ocean.
Jessica wrote, "To see people from different races and genders come into action to help TOTAL strangers [was] absolutely amazing to see!!"
An 80-person chain stretched toward the swimmers.

Everyone on the beach could only think of traditional solutions, and they were paralyzed.
But one couple, in a split second, thought of a different solution.
Innovation and creation are spiritual gifts.
When we keep our covenants, it may make us different from others in our culture and society, but it gives us access to inspiration so we can think of different solutions, different approaches, different applications.
We aren't always going to fit in with the world, but being different in positive ways can be a lifelines to others who are struggling.

Once that human chain was stretching toward the swimmers, she knew she could help.
Jessica Mae said, "I can hold my breath ... and go around an Olympic pool with ease!
[I knew how to get out of a rip current.]
I knew I could get [each swimmer] to the human chain."
She and her husband grabbed boogie boards and swam down the chain until they and another rescuer reached the swimmers, and then they ferried them one by one back to the chain, who passed them to the safety of the beach.
Jessica had a distinct skill: she knew how to swim against a rip current.

-Sharon Eubank -Turn on Your Light -October 2017 General Conference

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi