Thoughts from a Sea Side.

A little something I wrote sitting on the beach the last night of vacay in July.

I am sitting on the beach listening to the waves crash. How something can be so majestic and so powerful, yet so calming and peaceful at the same time is one of life's great oxymorons. Living so close to the ocean I often take its grandeur for granted, but looking out at it this week I am filled up with its breadth. It amazes me that sitting here in this sand on Surfside Beach I could theoretically jump in a boat and travel east and end up on Spain. I could travel north to look for Santa or south and play with a penguin. It is breathtaking.

Taking my daily walks this week I couldn't help but think of the generations and generations of people who have walked this same stretch of sand: Native Americans, women in hoop skirts, teenagers in polyester bell bottoms. This water and this sand is the home to an infinity of stories and adventures.

Just this week alone I have watched daddies and daughters fly kites and play games. I have seen young moms take pictures of their toddlers splashing in the surf for the first time and grandparents dig tide pools for their precious grandchildren. I myself have sat and reminisced about coming here as a child and a teenager. I have remembered old friends and made new ones. I have talked about how this sand and this water is a gift of love from God.

Seriously, think about it. He made this ocean and this sand for us to come to and enjoy, to unite generations, to wash away our stresses, to create family memories and friendships, to marvel in His unending power.

We as humans can do A LOT of amazing things. We can create beautiful works of art, shower each other with love and kindness, but none of us;  not the richest, the smartest, the most powerful can build an ocean. We can't create the tide. We can't paint the sky as pink and blue as carnival cotton candy and have it reflect into the mirrored waters of the sea.

I felt the same way two weeks ago in the mountains. I looked out across the giants and realized standing in North Carolina I was seeing mountains across three states. It was awesome in the true sense of the word. Standing at an overlook taking in rows and rows of interlocking mountains I was floored by God's power and majesty.

Do you realize how much He loves us? In life, most people's great quest is to find that one person who makes them feel like the most special person in the world. The thing is we have that already. We just don't take the time to see it. We take it for granted.

God loves us like that. He loves us enough to create mountains and oceans, to create gorgeous flowers and amazing animals to color our worlds. He loves us enough to let us hear and create beautiful music to speak what our spoken words can't. He loves us enough to carry us through life's toughest, boggiest sand traps. He loves us enough to give up His one and only son so we could have eternal life with Him free from doubt or pain or loneliness. No man can do that. No woman can do that. No child. No parent. No one. The only One who can fill us up with unlimited and unending joy and love is Jesus.

As I look up from writing this the sun is almost gone and right in my line of sight is one little hermit crab dancing across the sand. No one saw it but me.

See, God gave me that moment. He gave me that sweet, precious small moment to fill my heart with joy and to let me know He is listening to me write this.  It wasn't a grand gesture. It was one of those little sursies, those small, unplanned moments that always end up being better than the ones you plan for to let me know He is smiling at me for recognizing and acknowledging His great gift of love.  Those moments are all around us if we will just stop and take the time to see them and appreciate them.

Remember we only know how to love because God first loved us, and the only real way to show someone true love is to share with them the great joy and perfection that is God's love. Everything else pails in comparison.