Rob Fox
It’s a little on the nose, God. But we’ll take it. Two high school seniors from St. Augustine, Florida, Tyler Smith and Heather Brown, were on their way to the beach for senior skip day from their high school, Christ’s Church Academy, when they ultimately found themselves swept out to sea. After going out off of Vilano Beach for a swim they found themselves two miles from shore with no way to get back.
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The two 17-year-olds fought through waves for two hours before they finally started praying and calling out to God for help.
“I cried out: ‘If you really do have a plan for us, like, come on. Just bring something,’” Tyler Smith told WJAX.
That’s a bold thing to say to God, Tyler. “Come on bro? This is what you got for me? I’m supposed to just drown or whatever? That’s your plan for me? I know I’m not very objective but that seems like a dumb plan!”
Either God was impressed with Tyler’s boldness and changed his mind or got back from a smoke break and was like, “Whoa what are Tyler and Heather doing out there? Send the nearest boat. What? It’s called ‘Amen’? Ugh, that’s a bit much. I’d prefer to work a little more mysteriously but I’ll take what I can get right now.”
Smith was probably appropriately frustrated seeing as at the time he was cramping, holding onto Brown, and generally wondering if he was going to be alive by the end of the hour.
Stranded in the middle of the ocean, two #Florida teens began to pray. A God send, in the form of a boat, the Amen. Their incredible story of survival on @ActionNewsJax tune in at 6:00 pic.twitter.com/RsdS61VMcZ
— Bridgette Matter (@Bmatternews) April 30, 2019
That’s when Captain Eric Wagner and his crew found the pair. Wagner contacted the Coast Guard and then sent his boat, the “Amen” to save them.
Upon being told the name of the boat both Smith and Wagner began to cry and thanked God for their miracle.
Christ Church Academy released the following statement about the incident.
“The staff, students and families of Christ’s Church Academy are incredibly grateful for God‘s protection over Heather and Tyler. Thank you to Mr. Eric Wagner, captain of the ‘Amen’ vessel that rescued our students, for your swift action and compassion!”
On the nose or not, thanks for helping out, God.
This story was originally published May 3, 2019.
