I am taking a break from “Ocean View” this week, as I used my time in preparing and enjoying our daughter’s visit for her alma mater’s homecoming. Boston Bully, the subject of my next “Ocean View” will have to wait. Being focused lately on the beach blogs has had me chomping at the bits to mention the amazing autumn colors. I join the ranks of those who’ve been seen with jaw dropped and cell phone pointed into nature. Many of us doubted the drought would allow much color, but I have been pleasantly surprised, and I’ve heard several of you say the same. I myself have been afflicted with leaf envy; the most exquisite red trees are not in my yard.
I am probably prejudiced, but I think our home town is one of the prettiest in the fall. As we shuffled through leaves to watch the homecoming parade from the end of Ninth Street, I reminisced walking that very same street decades ago. Tuesday’s rain had settled the dust and Saturday morning’s cool breeze stirred a familiar aroma in the maple leaves; one which took me back to the third grade when our neighbor delivered her daughters and me to the corner of Poplar and Ninth. We walked the leaf-covered sidewalk from there, to what was then called the Austin Building until our new elementary school building was completed. Perhaps many of those very same trees had shed the leaves I now watched my great nephews playing in after the parade.
Ninth and MainCommon SumacHomecoming 2022
I await October all year; which is odd in a way…so many losses to our family and our friends’ families have occurred in these autumn months. Yet, as I was saying to a dear friend recently, it is as if God presented us the great beauty of autumn to comfort in our losses, ease the discomforts of losing summer, and soften the forces of seasons He knew we would necessarily weather in this life. I cannot describe in one post all the beauty I see in October, and now, tomorrow it bids us farewell for another year. I am thankful for the few roses that have hung on to decorate our life, but soon they too will be gone. The yellow and burgundy chrysanthemums have shown like neon lights, and now begin to show their age. The weekend rain is helping trees and shrubs shed these colorful leaves, leaving them bare and resting, for a new year. It is a fitting time for homecomings; reminding me of how farewells eventually bring around welcome hello’s. Life teaches us to say “ta-ta”; and as well, to anticipate with joy, eventual homecomings. This month has just evaporated (probably the fault of the extreme drought) and all too soon winter will be upon us, but take heart…we will be that much nearer the regeneration of Spring. Then, again we will be jaw dropping and photo snapping. The comfort is that in a world of so much change, some things never do.
Fifth in the Ocean View series….There is a very pleasant sound when the earth is in motion; when the waves wash ashore from the sea.
My friend Linda’s daughter and grandson
After lunch today I was glued to the patio, soaking up the sun’s warmth and the cooling breeze; transported back to – you guessed it – the beach. It has become my Sunday afternoon ritual to remember, reflect upon, and relive those special moments. Finding reminders of God, and certain lessons I gathered in the tidbits of nature only God could make, I began this series of “Ocean View” to share thoughts and experiences I’m sure we have in common, about visits to an ocean. I’m fairly certain no one who has walked in the sand, has missed the fascination of watching a perfect impression be washed one wave at a time, out to sea. It’s almost a game to guess how many waves will completely erase our footprints. Among the many parallels we can draw from those vanishing footprints, is foremost to me, the fact we are “here today and gone tomorrow” as they say.
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 NKJV) This is one of my favorites; yes I do have several, but I mean this is in the top five! As I “walk humbly” with God, what kind of footprints am I making? Whose am I following?
Some impressions make a strong impact, some only a mild influence. Nevertheless, they are real. Just as a real person made real prints in the sand, our lives make real impact on those about us, impressing for good, or not. As I watched the first ripple blur the edges of my footprint, then the second wave melt the impression down to an outline, the third wash totally took the print out to sea; a million grains at once. Will any one of those grains enter the clam who would make a pearl of my impression? I’ll never know. While we don’t want to get too caught up in our own presence, or make too much of it, there is something to think about here. Actually, we may not realize fully enough the impact we make. After all, the prints were real and while we may not see them linger, their image lives in our memory; we were there, making footprints in the sand. Who might be following? To whom do our footprints lead?
Are my footprints just aimlessly meandering this way and that? Is it like trying to follow the gull’s scrambled tracks? If on the other hand, they are sure, and true, they will lead to the good shepherd Who knows every sheep by name. If my prints help someone to recognize the good shepherd’s voice, they will hear and follow Him. “When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” (John 10:4-5 NIV)
I have only the few moments of my imprint before it is washed out to sea. Will there be any impression or influence worth the effort God put into making me? (Because He has had to do a lot of work on this gal!) As we compete with flashy high-tech toys in gaining the little ones’ attention, I catch myself wondering, will the glint in my eye and the grin on my face ever be enough for them to remember something good about me? Wow, how vain that sounds, but isn’t it true? I feel I’m not the only one who wants to be remembered by her loved ones as one who loves them; as having a positive impact in their lives.
In the first couple years of public school, I encountered two very different women. One, our sitter we called Miss Frocie, and then there was my teacher. All I remember about the teacher is fear, and a broken self image. Miss Frocie however, went about her humble daily life with a song. Literally. I am taken back to her little house every time I hear “Footprints of Jesus” (by Mary B. C. Slade) She sang it, hummed it, and taught it. She had a picture of the “Last Supper” over her kitchen table. Though she was not a doting gooey-sweet sitter, she took care of us and made a terrific lemon icebox dessert I wish to this day I could duplicate! The impact of one became a part of me that if I’m honest, I never got over. The other one influenced me to love Jesus, Terri Lee dolls and lemon desserts. Footprints of Jesus…”🎼And we see where Thy footprints falling, lead us to Thee.” 🎵 He, Jesus, is the way, the truth and the life. You’ll find no better prints to follow.
So, it is true. One day they will say of me, “here today and gone tomorrow”. Will there be any marks left to point the way for those to come after me; any impact to assure friends and family of their importance to me; and will a single grain of my walk be a pearl I can return to the Father for the beyond-amazing life He has designed.
In Revelation 14:13, John was given this knowledge to impart to us: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on…that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”
Now go walk in the sand, and marvel at the works of God’s hand. Trisha
I’m having fun reliving our mini trip to the ocean, reading over notes I made while there. I hope you enjoy the view from my beach chair. And I hope my husband is still speaking to me after this one😁.
We hit the road with no particular expectations; simply a prayer for safety. I sought only the sweet breath of the ocean; to be quiet, still, and to receive the gift of peace I had discovered in years past, peace I found in the solitude as I looked out over the expanse, forgetting the world at my elbows. I asked for nothing more, except to hope the trip would be good for my sidekick too. I was about to be reminded of God’s way of presenting gifts beyond our imagination, in the here and now. Before your eyebrows fuse in that position, I ask, would we pray for daily provisions if we did not believe good gifts are part of this life, as well as life in eternity? Let me unwrap the gift of just one day we received on the beach at Seaside.
“…And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters…Then God said, ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.’…and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1: 2b, 6, 10b)
So, if I read that correctly, waters were there on the second day, before there was land on the third day. And God saw that it was good. By the fifth day the seas and heavens were so pleasing they were given life to inhabit them. (“Then God said, ‘Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.‘ ” Genesis 1:20) Inconceivable – to us, but who are we? A god who can make all creatures great and small to inhabit earth, water, and air, would have no problem at all preparing their habitation.
Did you realize (I didn’t until now) that it was the sea life and birds of the air who were first “blessed” by God! It says so in verse 22. That’s the first recorded time of God blessing His creation. And here we were, blessed, in front row seats to witness one little slice of that creation. It seemed they were showing up and showing out just for us, as if they knew our time to be there was short, Gary’s endurance was limited, and the flies would come biting tomorrow. Yes, Day one of our beach trip, Gary’s first ever, was nothing short of a gift. ON with the show…
Now I know most of you have experienced so much more, our trip pales to a ghost in comparison. We didn’t swim with the dolphins, nor go snorkeling with the undersea life, but I assure you we were extraordinarily entertained by this show rehearsed for thousands of years. From our first step into the crystal clear water with ghost crabs the size of a large hand, to the larger than life sunset, we enjoyed one new thing after another. We laughed at the tiny lightening-quick sand crabs popping in and out of the sand as the soft gray and white gulls did their best to grab them in their hide and seek game. We watched schools of small slender fish at the waters edge, like synchronized swimmers performing a routine. First this way, then reverse, that way, and back again, until they danced out of the spotlight.
As usual, there were a few jellyfish here and there, but I’d never seen one being carried in a sand pail, it’s gelatinous excess spilling over the sides of the child’s pail. One look at a youngster rubbing his leg told us the jellyfish had been a bad sport and now faced the consequences as it was carried away to be buried in the sand. Ugh.
While we didn’t swim with dolphins, they were certainly on parade! At first it was a barely recognizable image of forms leaping on the horizon. Soon another group, or the same, I have no idea, had come closer, leaping, arching, splashing to our pleasure! I squealed like a kid on Christmas morning with a coveted new toy. A third time, even nearer, the show stopping acrobats were between us and a young man on a paddle board who had gone farther out than these dolphins! Arms all along the beach were pointing out to sea and there was a congregational “whoa!” What a thrill for me to see, but even more so, that they came to play for a 70 year old who’d never even seen the Gulf before. HIs only other ocean view had been a chilly shore in Maine years ago. I had by now, begun to explain to him this day was not the usual but a gift – perfect weather, no annoyances and sea life abundant.
After a while of admiring the natural beauty, I had to remind my husband this was not the mall. People-watching would not be good for his health. With tongue in cheek, I say there were more creatures than jellyfish jiggling on the beach. After wearing a towel over his head for a few minutes, he decided to watch his feet turn red and play games with the gulls. Live and learn. After a short time of quiet I opened my eyes to find gulls gathering a bit too closely. I had cautioned him regarding these gluttonous feathered friends, but alas, I caught him with his hand in the lunch bag, pulling out pretzels to break and toss. (I know, I know. But I mean, when a man so diligently directs his vision per wife’s instruction, who’s going to scold?) One gull quickly became three or four, looking at him with expectant “don’t stop now” expressions. We laughed as each one grabbed a piece of pretzel, chop stick-style and ran toward the water just in case this land lubber wanted his treats back.
The final layer of gift wrap to reveal our pleasure of the day, came in the midst of a growing crowd off to our left. I had become quite comfortable drying in my sunny chair, so Gary eased off in the direction of the ado, ready to snap a picture of whatever the people were following. There was from my vantage point a shadowy figure slowly moving about 15 to 20 feet off shore, being followed by the crowd. I thought perhaps a large fish, or small dolphin, had floated to shore and I did not want to see a dead one. Just as I realized it was moving intentionally, it swam out of sight and the crowd dispersed. Before Gary returned, I asked our neighbors, the Markeys (from last week’s post), what had been the attraction, and to my dismay, they reported A LARGE SEA TURTLE! Fish fur! Of all the times to sit on my butt! I was happy though that Gary was privileged to see it and his camera caught just the edge of it from where he stood. My true concern was possibly this wonder of a creature had thought it to be time and place to come ashore and lay her eggs, then was frightened away. We were not graced by her presence again.
Millions of people over the years have been entertained and impressed by natural wonders we may just take for granted. But what a gift; and as any of us can truly say, “You did this all for me?! Awwww, thank you! ” I love the lyrics to “Who Shall Stand Before the King” (R. J. Stevens Music, LLC) It is taken from Psalm 24, which begins, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters.” Who indeed can stand before the King; I am not worthy. But I have stood before his creation, received the gift, at peace, amazed, and grateful. Trisha
There is a very pleasant sound, when the earth is in motion, like waves come ashore from the sea. Like children’s laughter and gulls o’er the ocean; a mother’s sweet voice in your sleep.
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24 NKJV)
I first noticed them descending the two dozen or so steps to the beach, two babes in arms and one at their heels, and carrying bags of beach toys and towels. I said in passing, “wow, you’ve got your hands full”. She laughed and rolled on. We do have our hands full, I thought, as we navigate the stairs and baggage of life.
Upon returning later to the sandy bliss, I realized their beach umbrella and chairs were set up next to ours. The little girls were as brown as biscuits against the white sand, and I later learned their ages were one, two and a half, and six years old. An absolutely beautiful family, the parents were so calm and tender with the children, encouraging their play and soothing their fears. Mom Markey (fictitious name, since I did not ask permission to use their real name) approached me in the water complimenting the bandana I wore, and said she used to have a bandana in every color and also received compliments. Her reply to those, she said, was “Thank you, it’s what I do when my hair needs to be washed.” I revealed it’s what I wear because my hair has thinned and needs to be styled! We shared a laugh and knew we, as women, had in common the need to fix things. After a brief conversation, I learned they are from Texas, he is a youth minister and she, in need of prayer, a minister’s wife. Bless them! I have no idea where they are in their journey of knowledge and faith, but I do know she is a firm believer in prayer. Because of some things we discussed, I knew I would remember and pray for them. Then she really touched my heart as she said, “when we cross your mind, that’s probably when we need your prayer most”. Her next comment was just raw naked truth – “it seems that when he (her husband) is preparing for the occasional times he does pulpit speaking, we are feuding and fussing – satan is stirring discord – the kids are getting upset…” Oh Father God, have mercy on the young families all over the world who must go through this! The devil sees all effort to learn of God’s will, as his chance to wreak havoc. Just like the Markey family, there seem to be more poison arrows than we have shields to deflect; until we remember God and His shield, the only one big enough for the job. (“above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” Ephesians 6:16) Faith in God, our BIG shield; and this sweet little momma juggling dependability (as a wife), disappointment (as a daughter) and duty (as a mom) had faith that my prayers would be heard. Momma M., “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) and so can you, and so can dad M. Do not give up! Study hard and grow far.
It was refreshing when the six year old splashed out to us, declaring her name was Mary, and showing me her painted fingernails. She said, “I was named after baby Jesus’ mother!” In turn, I shared with her my love for John chapter 20 in which a different Mary went searching for Jesus; and I showed her my blue toenails. Her giggles assured me I was cool, and she waded back to shore, bodyboard in tow. Mary didn’t seem ready to trust the bodyboard beneath her, but kept carrying it around with her instead. We moms, in a similar way, don’t always completely trust that shield of faith but we keep carrying it, and one day, if we grow, we will let it carry us.
“When we cross your mind…” Yes, and if I cross your mind, pray for me too. Satan has no limits on age and occupation. We all face adversity. Quite possibly God, in bringing me to mind, has sought for me, your prayer.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105
The only features of our “pet friendly” accommodations made known to me, prior to arriving, was the $200 fee. I left home with questions, like, would he be welcome on the beach? Would there be a pet check-in to present his required vaccination status? Most importantly, would we have a place to take our morning walks? The answers turned out to be yes, no, and yes, in that order. Sadly, even though dogs were allowed on the beach, I never made time to show Auggie the ocean; maybe another time. As for the check-in, no human interaction occurred other than the many oohs and aahs and “may we pet him” offers. The morning and evening walks were a dream come true! Soft sandy paths connecting the houses, streets, restaurants and the beach, were wrapped with cute little picket fences every step of the way. Best of all were the lights! Perfectly placed along and low on the fences, at just the right level to illuminate our path, were automatic lights. Everywhere. We never had to walk in the dark, nor search for light switches. No flashlight necessary; no effort on my part, the light was always on time and enduring. Not unlike God’s word, right? May I make a couple more comparisons? Walk with Auggie and me as we continue to see similarities between our path’s golden glow and God’s word.
I wish I’d taken a picture of our walking path after dark, to show how our steps were not darkened by the many shadows cast by trees and buildings which stood between us and overhead street lights. This was due to the shin-high lamps illuminating our path. I was reminded of Psalm 119:133 “Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.” Truly our path was not overshadowed. I didn’t trip, and Auggie wasn’t startled; at least not in the dark. Only once, during daylight, did our path encounter a bully who had escaped from its owner. But that’s another story, and a comical one at that.
Path to the beach at sunset
Some well-intended light sources can be glaring, or blinding, like headlights on high-beam or a porch light so bright it ruins the ambience. These pathway lamps had just the right glow – easy on the eyes and pleasantly guiding the way. Again in Psalm 119, “Your word is very pure; therefore your servant loves it.” (verse 140) Here again we see the likeness between our pathway lamps and God’s word. We open it and read of the love put into showing us the way as God Himself breathed the inspired word for our benefit. It is not meant to be used as a weapon to battle each other, but to bring light to a world darkened by the work of satan. Many times Jesus pointed out how the Pharisees used the law to entrap and segregate. But Jesus came bringing life, “and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4) A light to our path.
One other helpful feature I noticed about our pathway lamps was the appropriate spacing. This way the whole path is well lit, eliminating spot lighting with gaps. We could walk confidently, knowing what was ahead. What a comfort on unfamiliar ground! In Psalm 119:50 the writer, speaking of God’s word, said “This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.”
It’s a beautiful thing how the Word was with God, and, looking down on the darkness of this world, became flesh, suffering the darkness Himself, to become the light that would save the world. And returning to Heaven, He left us the light of His word to guide us home too; light that is readily available, expertly placed, pure and easy to see, that we may walk confidently. Even under afflictions, through dark times, and in unfamiliar territory, His light comforts, right on time, enduring forever.
If on the other hand, they are sure, and true, they will lead to the good shepherd Who knows every sheep by name. If my prints help someone to recognize the good shepherd’s voice, they will hear and follow Him. “When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” (John 10:4-5 NIV)
Trisha's Coffee Break 