The Girl God Rescued, Bonus 1

31 May 2013 Post By Kim Peckham

Hi!
My name is Sally Streib. I’m the girl God rescued! My story is currently
appearing in Guide. Each week I’m
going to share a little bit more about my love of the ocean and its amazing
creatures.

See bonus photos from the next installment of The Girl God Rescued here.

As
you may have read in the first chapter of “The Girl God Rescued,” I lived in
different places along the Pacific Ocean.

When its giant, green waves stormed
up the beach toward the glass door of my bedroom, I felt afraid because I
didn’t understand the ocean. After I read the books my mother brought home, I
began to understand such things as the power of the moon, tides, and how waves
form and behave.

I
learned that a wave happens when the swell nears shore and the lower part of it
nearest the sand moves slower than its top. This causes the top of the wave to
curl over. Just as the wave reaches three-fourths of the depth of the water
below it, it topples over and becomes a breaker, falling down upon itself. I
felt surprised to learn that waves aren’t moving mounds of water charging over the ocean surface, but pulses of
power moving through the water.
Here’s a video clip of some Pacific Ocean waves in action:

During
the time we lived in the tent, I often visited Laguna Beach, just south of
Huntington. I walked along a path that hugs the top of the cliffs and watched
waves hit great rock clusters just offshore, smash against the feet of cliffs,
and swirl into tide pools where sea stars clutched the rocks.

I
liked to watch surfers paddle out beyond the waves, catch a big one and ride it
all the way to shore. A surfer
might tell you, “The bigger the better.” They might not be so bold if they knew
that a 27-foot-long wave could weigh 262,000 pounds! (Every cubic foot of it weighs
over 64 pounds.)

Not all beaches are pounded by waves. On the gulf coast of Florida, the ocean sits like a shimmering bathtub much of the time. “Better leave the surfboard at home,” I mumbled to myself the first time I saw the gulf water. Tiny wavelets tumbled onto the shore. Water birds skittered along, pecking the sand for tiny crabs. Water in the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas is often smooth as glass. But on a windy day, the sea can burst into action.

Many
sea creatures love waves. If you walk along the central California coast, stop
and listen. Above the sound of the wind you will often hear the barking of
seals as they play in the surf. After a while the creatures will roll up onto
the sand to take a sunbath.

Knowing
how waves work helped me enjoy them. Like most people, you might fear what you
don’t understand. This could cause you to fear God or what He might do. Once
you get to know Him, though, you will lose your fear and want to become His
friend and even enjoy Him.