Problem Solving Canoes

This week was a work camping trip.  As with all RT groups, they are centered around a focus-or goal pertaining to treatment.  In this case it was about developing and practicing skills of flexibility, frustration tolerance, and problem solving when facing challenging situations.  The kids did well and I felt good about the trip for the most part.  But one challenging situation lingers in my mind-especially since it could have turned out so much different.  Every time I leave for a trip, I pray to God asking him to help me help the children return safely back to campus.  Safety is the prime directive but that doesn't mean we have to stay locked up-we venture out into the world with all of it's potential dangers.

Little did I know when launching the canoes in our  uneventful section of Provo River that it would turn into a challenging situation.  For me, canoeing is a bore.  I consider it more of a hassle than a true adventure activity.  Let's go on some wave runners-now that's adventure. Getting the canoes off and on the trailer is usually the most challenging aspect of our experience.  Not so-this time around.  After launching the canoes, it took me a while to even notice that one of our partnerships had capsized.  Usually the water is so warm, shallow and still, you can touch the bottom, push the canoe over to the side of the bank and hop back in-no problem.  But this was different.  The weather in Utah this spring resulted in more water, stronger currents, and colder water.

Once I assessed the situation and saw that the canoe was some distance from the swimmers, I called to the therapist and student to get to the shore and out of the water.  I then focused on doing what I had learned.  Get the canoe, tee it up cross ways across my canoe to dump out the water, then turn it right side up and reload it.  I've practiced this before, but with the current, I couldn't seem to get the right angle and have the strength on my own to perform the maneuver.  I needed help.

I asked the fisherman on the shore for help...no response.  The 12 paddle boarders just meandered by us like I had everything under control.  I called to the other staff in the canoe to come over.  The current was starting to take us to the mouth of the lake. I did NOT want that to happen.  I didn't want to jump out and pull the boat to shore because I wasn't sure how well the very emotionally unstable student would do alone in the canoe and thought she might tip over and be in water as well. Believe me, I considered a range of options and evaluated the safety of each move.  All I could do was hold on to the boat, keep calm, and keep exploring different ways of doing things.

It took a while, but the other staff made his way over to us and we were able to link boats, giving us the necessary stability, leverage and strength to accomplish the task.   Talk about problem solving!  I hooked the empty boat on to mine, brought on an additional student more capable of rowing and went to shore. The one canoe of girls were arguing so much, it was a miracle they were able to go in the right direction to meet up with us.  They even rescued the floating shoe of the therapist.  After expressing our relative trauma, each student decided to accept the challenge to get back in the boats and paddle upstream to our original put in.  Even the boy who said he "almost died" rowed in a strong, enthusiastic manner as my canoe partner.  We solved the problem!  It was a triumph over a challenging situation.  It was a collective group experience of self-efficacy.

As I've thought about the situation, the words to a song from the musical "Neverland" keep popping into my head. "When reality crashes in wave after wave-pulling me farther beneath...  It's all I can do is hold to survive...but my children need so much more than me and they give me the strength to go on...He makes sense of all of my chaos....He's helping me live life again...He's guiding me safely to shore."  These snippets surely apply to my canoe ordeal but more than that it applies to my other challenging situations as well. I may be all pumped up with self-efficacy and feeling stronger...but sometime-no many times, I need some help.  Jesus Christ provides that help-especially when everyone else seems to be ignoring my plight.  He steps in, shimmies his canoe up to mine, and gives me his strength, leverage, and stability to accomplish the task-to solve the problem.  I do my part to hold on.  He helps me learn the skills of frustration tolerance, flexibility, and problem solving.