The River That Stays With You

I have been fascinated by the Columbia River for as long as I can remember. I awe at the sheer volume of water that it carries (it is the fourth largest river in the United States by volume discharged¹). I daydream about living in one of its port towns. I do not tire of watching its various boats, recreational and commercial, travel its waters. I was reminded of all this as my parents and I made the drive along I-84 from Portland, Oregon to Walla Walla, Washington last month while we travelled to funeral services for my maternal grandmother who recently passed away.

My grandma used to tell me stories about the river—mostly stories about her dad.

Grandma’s dad, James Mumford, was a highly-skilled river boat pilot and it was said he could navigate the Columbia River “with his eyes closed” because he had been up and down it so many times. He knew the river ‘as well as most people know their way to work’.

The upper Columbia can be particularly challenging to navigate. Pieces of the river look deceptively smooth and pilots must know the exact moment to turn in order to counteract powerful currents and avoid crashing into a sandbar, a sheer cliff, or a mid-channel island.

A Night When Skill Was Not Enough

A story grandma would frequently share was about a time when James was completing a night shift. While he was piloting, an unexpected storm arose and the powerful wind was making the water extremely difficult to navigate—he could not see the points where he was to turn. He feared for his life.

Back at home my grandmother, who was a young girl at the time, was startled awake by a dream she had; she knew her father was in trouble. She went and awakened her mother and told her she worried about her dad. Together, they knelt down and prayed that God would protect him. They instantly felt everything would be okay. Later, when relating the incident, James explained that he felt strength and vision beyond his own to help him navigate the river that night.

James would be quoted in a newspaper interview toward the end of his career as saying, “There are times that when with all the skill of man and modern equipment, it takes something more than the pilot to meet the challenge of the moment. That is when we give God credit for helping us out in some tight spots.”

“That is when we give God credit for helping us out in some tight spots.”

What Faith Looks Like Over a Lifetime

As we celebrated my grandmother last month, I couldn’t help but think that she had learned this lesson from her father: God helps His children through rough waters. As my mom said of my grandma: “Sometimes her life was hard but she always rose above it.”

Certainly she had her share of life’s challenges. But she was strong. And when her own strength wasn’t enough, she relied on an unwavering faith and hope in God that He would help her through the tight spots.

The Rivers We Each Must Navigate

Life sends each of us our share of powerful currents, sandbars, sheer cliffs, and mid-channel islands to navigate. Some parts of life are smooth and others are deceptively smooth and some are outright rough.

And even though we are strong, when our strength alone isn’t enough to meet the challenge of the moment, we can rely on God. No matter where we are in life, no matter the danger of the rapids or the bends along the way, we are never alone in our journey.

God will help us through the tight spots.

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¹ see “List of US Rivers by Discharge”, Wikipedia, accessed 8/24/2021

More memories about my grandparents…