Kids...
When I was a kid, we were backpacking 15 miles from no-where.. we got ourselves into a tight spot where we either had to backtrack for a quarter mile, or shimmy along the face of a cliff over a river.
Being kids, we chose to shimmy the cliff.
About halfway along the 3" crack that extended about 12 feet laterally along the wall, I leaned a bit too far back (remember, there is a pack on my back) and went straight down into the river.
Fortunately, my backpack and sleeping bag acted as a life-preserver and kept me floating as I back-stroked it to the shore and grabbed a tree branch hanging over the water.
There, but for the grace of God go I...
I remember a time when we were in high school, probably about 15 or 16 yrs. old and we were at Grand Haven State Park on Lake Michigan on the pier during a storm, which is where anyone with a modicum of sense does not want to be, so of course, every kid is out there for the thrill. The waves were so strong and they'd come up over the pier, and you'd have to quickly grab onto a structure or you'd get washed into the lake or the channel. We did it a million times. Well, this time my friend couldn't hold on and she was washed into the channel, she should have drowned but by the grace of God, she surfaced and a huge swell pushed her almost to the edge of the pier. The other friend I was with and I reached out and literally lifted her out of the water. I thank God to this day (I'm 50 now) for His mercy that the two of of us didn't fall in while rescuing her and that she wasn't pulled under by the strong currents. It was truly a miracle.