Wordless Wednesday -- Sunrise, Sunset

From where the sun rises to where the sun sets, the name of the LORD should be praised. ~ Psalm 113:3, God's Word Translation

Locations: Various parks throughout Hamilton Township; Brigantine Beach and bay, Flemington, Delaware River in NJ; and Sandy Cove in North East, Maryland

Carry Me!

Only two days back from vacation and I’m SO missing sitting by the ocean in my beach chair, listening to the soothing roar of crashing waves, feeling the warm sun’s caress on my face and the soft, wet sand under my feet, the smell of suntan lotion in the air and the beautiful sight of dolphins playfully jumping in and out of the water.

Last Thursday afternoon, as I was sitting on the beach reading, I happened to glance up and saw the family encamped in back of me packing up to go back to their house. It was a young mom and dad and their adorable toddler son. They had a lot of stuff to bring back with them….several chairs, a beach umbrella, a small cooler, a bag with towels and sunscreen, another bag with beach toys and a backpack. As their little boy continued playing in the sand, totally unconcerned with what his parents were doing, the mom picked up a chair, a bag and the backpack, while the father graciously grabbed and carried everything else. When they were ready, they told their son it was time to go. Of course, the little boy did NOT want to leave the beach, and he put up a fuss. The dad leaned down and spoke gently to him, then straightened back up and they all started walking. They had gone only went a few feet when the little boy ran in front of his father, held up his arms and cried, ‘Daddy, up, up!!’ Once again, the father, who was loaded down like a beast of burden, patiently looked down and said to his child, ‘you want Daddy to carry you?’ ‘Yes, peeze, Daddy, peeze ca’y me!’ was the response as he stood on tip-toe, continuing to reach for his father.

As I sat and smiled and observed this little scenario, I shook my head, wondering how in the world this man, who was slight of frame, was going to manage to pick up and carry this child, what with everything he already had in tow, and since his son was a bit on the stocky side. But I watched in awe as he bent down and, without tipping over or dropping anything (as I’m quite certain I would have done), easily swept his young son up off the sand, into his arms and trudged off the beach towards the long path through the dunes that led to the street and, eventually, home.

I watched until I could no longer see them and in all that time, the little boy’s father never set him down nor did he seem to struggle with all that weight he carried. Corny as it may sound, I watched them with tears in my eyes. Maybe someone else might have thought, ‘Good grief, why didn’t the mom pick him up since she had less to carry?’ or ‘Oh, give me a break, way to spoil your kid, just let him walk!’ But I was thinking what a sweet picture this was of a father’s love and compassion for his child. And then I thought what a great similarity this was to our Father God’s love and compassion for us.  It was a visual that God knew I needed to see displayed at that moment. You see, there are some issues and concerns I’m struggling with and believe me….spiritual attacks do not cease when you go on vacation. In fact, for me last week, they actually seemed to increase in strength and frequency. I was hurting, I was anxious, I was weary. I’d had enough, couldn’t go another step and my faith seemed to be unraveling rather quickly. Yet, here is my Father God, reminding me that no matter how many things He has going on, no matter how many ‘things’ He has in His hands, nothing is too hard for Him. For it does say in His Word, in Jeremiah 32:27, “Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?” (World English translation). Yes, He is right here with me, and if I would simply reach up my hands and cry out to Him, “Carry me, Abba, please carry me!!” He is big enough and strong enough to bend down, sweep me into His arms and carry me all the way through the hard, wilderness places of my life.

I know the scripture
I've known the songs,
I sang the words
from my hollowed heart;
But You've spoken softly
Through the storm
I've heard Your voice
and I've felt the calm;
I stand only because
You've given me faith to walk,
Only because

You carried me
You carried me,
You carried me through it all ;
And I believe,
Yes I believe,
You'll carry me all the way home ~ ‘You Carried Me,‘ Building 429

Just Enough Light

I’m at the beach on vacation this week with my kids and their two friends. Brigantine Beach is a lovely little town, hidden in the giant shadow of bawdy and obnoxious Atlantic City. So many people I’ve spoken with have never even heard of Brigantine Beach, and that’s fine by me. It’s quaint, it’s quiet, it’s friendly, it’s like the town that time forgot; you can actually go out somewhere for any length of time, leave your doors unlocked and windows open and come back to find nothing tampered with. We’ve been vacationing here for 8 years and I love this place.

I’ve done some dumb things here over the years. Once, I locked my keys in the car while I was at the Laundromat around the corner and had to pay a ridiculous amount of money to the garage across the street from it to come get them out. Another time, I ‘forgot’ to drink plenty of water on a very hot day while hanging out at the beach with my kids and a dear friend of mine, and wound up dehydrated, causing my one foot to cramp so severely that the beach EMTs had to drive over to our blanket, pick me up, place me in their vehicle and escort me back to the house. I’m not sure who was more mortified…me or my teenage son and daughter!

Tonight, while my kids and their friends took a walk over to the nearby park to play some tennis, I decided to stroll down to the beach by myself. I love to stand by the water with my feet in the cool, wet sand and watch and listen to the waves breaking. To me, there’s so much of God’s beauty and power and majesty in them, and God‘s presence seems so very intense there. When I started off, it wasn’t dark yet -- the sky still was still alight with some brilliant streaks of purple, pink and orange.

I walked quite a ways down from where I entered, lost in my thoughts and enjoying the deliciousness of being alone on the beach, so I didn’t really notice just how dark it had become until I turned away from the waves and looked towards the shore. I could see only a few lights from some houses in the distance. There was no shining full or even half moon to help illuminate my way back. My cell phone was useless, barely giving off enough light for me to see the hand I was holding it in. And over the years, my night vision seems to have gotten worse and worse. For a moment or two, I was gripped by anxiety and a small bit of fear, wondering how in the world I was going to find my way to the path through the dunes and to the street, it was THAT dark. I imagined my kids and their friends coming back to an empty house and calling me on my cell, only to be told, “Mom’s lost on the beach!” Ahh yes, another mortifying experience to add to the list.

I whispered out loud, “Jesus, this place is so beautiful, but PLEASE GET ME OUT.” I was trusting Him to guide me back. I looked down onto the sand and realized there was just enough light there for me to take the next step…and another…and another. I looked towards where I had come from earlier, but still saw nothing but pitch black darkness in the distance ahead. I could only see what was directly in front of me, and I was trusting in Jesus for each and every slow and steady step. I plodded along slowly and carefully, eventually making it off the beach.

As I headed home down a well lit street, I thought about how this little scenario related to my life. There have been times in my past where the destination ahead looked extremely dark, hopeless and foreboding. The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel seemed nonexistent, and I had no idea how I was going to make it from Point A to Point B. And sometimes, I wasn’t all that certain there even WAS a Point B. Fear, doubt and anxiety danced around me like some demented playmates, taunting me loudly. I’m currently journeying down another one of these paths. A simple phone call earlier in the day brought some disheartening news and the future of someone close to me may be in for an unexpected and unwelcome change. After the phone call ended, I just lowered my head and burst into tears. Right now, it looks pretty dark and ominous up ahead, and I must admit, I‘m anxious and somewhat afraid. Yet through all of these kinds of moments and seasons, Jesus reminds me that I don’t need to be anxious or worried or afraid or even doubtful about anything. No matter how dark it looks, He simply asks me to cry out to Him and to trust Him to give me just enough light for the next step I am to take.

Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On
Sometimes only the step I’m on,
or the very next one ahead,
is all that is illuminated for me,
God gives just the amount of light I need
for the exact moment I need it.

At those times I walk in surrender to faith,
unable to see the future
and not fully comprehending the past.

And because it is God who has given me
what light I have,
I know I must reject the fear and
doubt that threaten to overtake me.

I must determine to be content where
I am, and allow God to get me where I
need to go.
I walk forward,
one step at a time,
fully trusting that
the light God sheds
is absolutely sufficient.