For the Chinese New Year, my team and I took a little vacation to Penang to visit some of the other teams. One day, we decided to check out the beautiful beach at Batu Ferringhi. Adventure hungry, we decided to explore the rocks on the peninsula to see what we could see. It was beautiful and fun to climb out on the rocks at the waters edge. When the time came to head back to the beach, the water just looked so refreshing next to the scalding hot rocks we'd been climbing on. We had been warned about jellyfish, but had been in and out of the water most of the morning unharmed. Saying a quick prayer against the jellies, we slid into the water.
A few minutes later a fisherman started yelling at us in broken English a he pulled up a decent sized fish. Uh oh. We assumed he was cautioning us to not get tangled in his lines and continued on since at this point we were too far to go back to the rocks. Seconds later I felt what seemed to be little electrifying needles of fire drilling into my thighs over and over. I screamed out in pain and started swimming even faster to the shore. "JELLYFISH, JELLYFISHHHHH!!!" I yelled as Amanda looked back at me, eyes wide.
The combination of adrenaline and the strength of the Lord is the only way I made it back to shore with the excruciating pain shooting through my legs. On shore, I looked down at my thighs which started swelling with what looked like a zillion mosquito bites. I started freaking out, not knowing what to do. "do you want me to pee on it?" my teammate asked. "No, no.. I'm okay.. It's fine," I said as we kept walking back to the others on the beach. The pain increased with every step I took. "Okay, okay.. Is peeing on it gonna help?? I need you to pee on me now!!" I cried out in pain. Being the great and sacrificial friend she is, she did just that. I would love to say that the pain instantly left but it unfortunately did not.
We got back to the rest of the group and quickly exited the beach, trying to find a jellyfish sting remedy. Asking a few people, they all said to get vinegar and pour vinegar all over your legs. I collapsed outside a convenience store as some of the girls went inside to buy vinegar, sting numbing spray and water. The other girls headed up to McDonald's to google jellyfish sting treatment. In the midst of dousing my legs with vinegar, the girls talked to me, calmed me down and bought me a delicious smoothie. I felt so loved and cared for by this group of women as they all came around me to help and serve me in whatever ways they could. Not that a jellyfish sting was necessary to demonstrate this, but I believe this event was a beautiful picture of the body of Christ working together.
Reflecting back on the event, I realize that it could have been much worse then it was. I am so thankful that the Lord sustained me and literally delivered me out of the raging sea. Just the day before, Amanda shared a story with me about 2 friends of hers who jumped into a raging river in the middle of winter to save a girl. All 3 of them almost drowned. Shortly after, the Lord brought her to Isaiah 43:2 which says "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you." Wow. In the same way, the Lord was with me in those jellyfish infested waters. Even though I went against the advice of others and swam in the water, God was still faithful and protected me. He calmed my soul and gave me the strength to keep on swimming. I did not fear because He was with me; He strengthened me, helped me and upheld me with His righteous right hand, just as He promised He would (Isaiah 41:10).
Disclaimer: In case you were wondering if peeing on a jellyfish sting is effective as the show Friends demonstrates, the answer is no. That is a myth and actually can make a jellyfish sting worse. In the event of a sting, wash with salt water, pour vinegar on affected area, then use shaving cream and a credit card to shave off the awful little stinging cells.
