Catalina

This past Sunday, I met a woman planning to swim the Catalina Channel.

I had not met her previously. She just appeared in the front pew of a small neighborhood church in Santa Monica where I was preaching. During my sermon, she gazed at me with such intensity that I wondered if I had forgotten our introduction. I had not, but soon discovered, our meeting was meant to be.

In the 80 odd years since its first crossing, some 200 people have now successfully swum the Channel. It stretches some 20 miles from Catalina to the shores of Long Beach. The journey is made particularly perilous by the ever-present boat traffic and frosty water temperatures. Clearly, this is not a task for the faint of heart. 

Laura, a mother of four daughters, feels this challenge is her "calling." She considered all sorts of pilgrimages before settling on this one. To conquer this open water expanse is to slay her Goliath.

As we celebrate Women's History Month, Laura reminded me it's not just the female virtuosos and doyens who are worthy of admiration. The extraordinary is waiting for all of us...

"The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams." - Oprah Winfrey

*Mrs. Myrtle Huddleston was the first woman to successfully swim the Catalina Channel in February of 1927, completing the journey in 20 hours and 42 minutes. 

**Photograph by Oliver Sjöström