Day 3: Can You Ever Have Too Much?

"You can never have too much beach."

I came across this quote when I was looking for quotes about the beach.  I don't know if I agree with it though. 

I was telling someone this past week that if I had chosen a different path for my life it might have ended up with me having a small cottage by the beach somewhere where I could teach during the day and come home to listening to the waves while grading papers and reading books. The thing wrong that I see in my own scenario is a lack of community.  

I like the rythmn of the beach.  I like the heat of the sand and the smell of saltwater.  I don't really like cold beaches, but since moving to Idaho I'll take the cold beaches of Oregon and Washington over no beaches. 

Here's what I read in Ecclesiastes: “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 NIV)

I don't know if I lived my life at the beach all the time if my life would be meaningless, but I do know that is not where God has me right now.  So for today I'll chose to be content and enter into community even when my soul is tired and longs for the rhythm of the beach.  God has me in this community right here right now.

“A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 NIV)

P.S. Sundays I'll be writing about the beach.

Home, Sweet Home

Home is where the heart is....so they say....well, whoever "they" are. But isn't that a little true? I can feel at home just about anywhere and I can be "home" but not feel at home.

I just got back from a long family vacation. We went from the bottom of California to the top of Oregon. We mostly stayed at the beach.

I feel at home at the beach. I like the sand. I like the sun (well, this year the lack of sun :) ). I like the rythmn of the waves. I like the ocean. I like the vastness of the ocean. I like it's depth. I like the amount of sand. I like watching the dolphins, the sand crabs, the pelicans and the seal gulls. I like finding shells and cool rocks. I like the beach. I feel at home at the beach.

It soothes my soul, the beach. I get lost in the rythmn and the lack of time. The beach is refreshing to me. Like salt water heals a wound, the beach heals my tiredness. It is a place where I can rest and laugh and think.

I've been home almost 24 hours. It is actually 23 hours and some minutes, but who is counting. I had a long day today. I took my Kirsten to a leadership retreat at 8, took care of some business for church at 9, then met up with a Bible study/prayer group a little after 9, drank coffee with some great friends who are moving tomorrow morning (don't know when I'll see them again),at 10 got back to church and finished some camp stuff, 11 ish found out the transmission is shot and a new one is on it's way (ugh), 12 ish finally got over to counselor training across town for the rest of the day. Now I'm home.

As I walked up the driveway I told my Bethany that it felt like we were coming home to a new home. The week before we left we had planted a lot of flowers for her graduation party. All my other flowers were also just coming up that week. Tonight it looked like a jungle of plants. A friend had graciously mowed the lawn while we were gone or that would look like a jungle also. But I am home again.

"He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake." -King David

Psalm 23:2-3 (New International Version)