Disturb Us, Lord

A little over a month ago, during dinner time, our 10 year-daughter, Hana, was talking about what she was learning in school. She brought up the location of Cape Horn, which turned me around because I couldn't place this landmark location on a map or globe. This is what happens when you have kids progressing along late elementary math and geography.

So when Papa doesn't know something, he secretly looks it up online (aka "google"). I should tell you that Hana attends a school that uses no computers in their classrooms and discourages the premature use and exposure to all that is technology and electronic media (television, video games, etc). I found out that Cape Horn is located at the tip of South America, reaching towards Antartica. We took a look at a globe, which I got for Hana's birthday years ago (I've was ridiculed for this) and to locate Cape Horn on it, you almost have to turn either your body or the globe to see it - its near the South Pole or kind of near it.
During my google search, I came across an amazing story of Abby Sunderland, who is a 16 year-old girl from Southern California currently on a quest to become the world's youngest solo circumnavigator. Translation: this teenager, only six years older than Hana, was sailing around the world by herself. She was within days of reaching Cape Horn, which is known in the yachting universe as the "Mount Everest" of sailing - a mariner's graveyard because of its mountainous, heaving seas and gale-force winds. As a family, we were captivated by her journey. Every evening we would check her blog to see her progress and celebrated when she finally safely reached Cape Horn on March 31st. She is believed to be the youngest sailor ever to sail through this treacherous passage. Today, her journey required an unplanned stop in Capetown, South Africa due to equipment malfunction.

Of course, Abby's quest raises a lot of question about her parents' wisdom in even letting her attempt to do such a thing. What parent in their right mind would allow or encourage such a thing? She comes from a family of adventurers, including an older brother, Zach, who at age 17, was, for some six weeks, the youngest person to sail solo around the world when he returned in the summer of 2009.

All I know is that I was captivated by her story, by her parents, and by their courage. Reckless? Foolish? Perhaps. But in an age when so many parents overemphasize the goals of good grades, a comfortable career, and a happy and safe life, people like the Sunderlands provide a fresh take on what it means to live with courage and adventure. That's not to say that good grades and a good job are wrong. Certainly these are good things. I just think there are greater things to aim for. What would a life of significance (rather than success) look like? A book that I read a few months ago helped me explore some of these ideas. I also knew that this world was a huge place with huge needs and my dream was that our kids would explore it and make a difference in it. Perhaps that explains the birthday present years ago.

By the way, the Sunderlands are a family of faith. The video clip below of a prayerful father moved me.


I'm not sure if I would let Hana or my boys sail around the world by themselves. But I do know that I continuously ask my Heavenly Father to help me loosen the grip on them, knowing that they were created with a purpose to do amazing things for His Kingdom. I just don't want to get in the way of His purposes by over-parenting, over-protecting, or over-managing them.

The prayer below by Sir Francis Drake (16th century sailor and namesake of Drake's Passage at Cape Horn) is a dangerous prayer. I want the courage to pray it for myself and my family:

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.