Scuba diving was something I thought would be AWESOME to get to do on the race, but I didn’t think it would be very high on the list of possible things.
BUUUUTTTT…month 10 came around & we found ourselves working with a crazy-busy & adventurous host in Romania. The first day we arrived, he told us: “you give us quality ministry, we give you quality adventure,” then gave us two options: we could go to Greece, or we could go to Transylvania – where Dracula’s castle is! This was only possible because our host worked our schedule out to where we had crammed three adventure days together, so trips like this would be possible & enjoyable.
After a few hours of deliberating as a squad & making personal decisions, I decided I was going to go to Greece!
If you are familiar with the geography of Greece (I wasn’t), part of the northern portion is referred to “the fingers.”
We spent most of our time on the southernmost point of the island of Kassandra – a beach called Polychrono. My teammate Megan and I got to do a few shore dives from a beach called Loutra.
I had scuba dove several times prior to this – but this was my first dive in the Mediterranean Sea. Our dive instructor informed us that we wouldn’t be seeing the bright + busy wildlife that you might see in the pacific ocean – he encouraged us to keep our eyes open for the “small things” and to admire the beauty in the details.
We saw tons of shiny, silvery fish whose scales shone bright as the rays of sun shone through the deep blue water. There were fireworms, starfish, morray eels & tons of urchins.
For some reason, this dive experience got me thinking: the Lord didn’t create things solely for us to enjoy, He created them because He is God & He can & I believe He’d do it again, even if we never got the chance to see any of it. He didn’t have to create the vast & beautiful sea life beneath the surface – around 95% of which has never been explored, yet He did. I was reminded of just how big, creative, powerful & wonderful my God is beneath the surface of this Mediterranean water.
Our awesome Dive Master – Emilios! He is 100% Greek, so fun! If you find yourself in Greece, 10/10 would recommend DiveGreece.
This experience was unique among others for me for a few reasons. I got to share this experience with one of my good friends, Megan. Megan and I grew closer the second half of the race. She is kind, intentional & loving. Her and I are kindred, adventurous spirits. When we both found out we were scuba certified, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity!
I will forever cherish this trip & am looking forward to many more with her 🙂
^^ circa July 2019 🙂
