The look on my husband's face confirmed our desperate plight. He was using all of his strength to steer the boat upright & to keep us alive. He cried out, "Oh Lord, SAVE US, PLEASE, SAVE US!"

Being 10 nautical miles out, there was no hope of shelter. And it all happened so quickly. Gale force winds, 100-120 kilometers an hour (60-75 miles an hour) threatened to crash us into one of the rocky islands. The wind howled and swirled in a 360-degree motion; waves bounded 5 meters high (16 feet); visibility was only 50 meters (163 feet). The overwhelming feeling was one of utter helplessness.

We were in the Adriatic, off the coast of Croatia, where a thousand rocky islands jut up from the sea. Our family enjoys sailing, and several members have their international sailing license. The weather was beautiful, and we were enjoying a spectacular outing.

Suddenly, without warning, we found ourselves in the storm of a lifetime. The phenomenon was something that no meteorologist could have predicted-three independent storms converged in uncharacteristic fashion and created the perfect storm.

Clearly, our lives were in grave and serious danger. On board this boat were the six people that I held most dear, and apart from a miracle, we faced death at sea. The sense of isolation gripped us and we feared the strong probability of death from capsizing. My daughter verbalized what we all felt, "I am doing everything that I can not to cry."

And then...without announcement, a sliver of light broke through and with it a ray of hope emerged that we actually might live. Though not out of danger, we sensed the storm beginning to break up. As wind and lightning subsided, Larry navigated the boat into a protected cove. Our lives had been on the brink of destruction, but God spared us.

Later, the news bulletin classified this as the worst storm in 25 years, with the epicenter being at our exact location. Reports confirmed that eight boats had hull damage, three had broken masts, and three actually sank.

Personally, I was gripped with a thought: In the face of a crisis, there is no time for preparation. The preparation must already be in place. Larry had to already know how to handle a boat...there was not a nanosecond to grab the manual and read the instructions.

The same is true of life, for storms are not just limited to sea. Life is filled with storms. There are emotional storms, financial storms, health storms, even political storms; we live in a very turbulent world. One must honestly ask, "What can I do to be prepared?"

For me, I knew that apart from a miracle, we were going to die. Yet, I knew that I was prepared to face death. This certainty came not from my circumstances, which were turbulent, but from a Person. At an early age, I heard about a God who loved me and about His Son who died to pay for my sins and give me eternal life, life after death. I chose to invite Him to come into my heart, forgive my sins and make me the person He created me to be. That decision made all the difference as I faced the reality of death.