Last weekend, the boys, some friends, and I went to the beach to "float." After another long, exhausting week at work, I just wanted to lie in the water and let it hold me up for awhile. It was good for the kids too because, believe it or not, living "next" to the beach almost all of their young lives, means the kids don't go to the beach as much as you would think. It quickly becomes clear that it's one of the few forms of entertainment here having no museums, skating rinks, malls, aquariums, zoos, or any other of the myriad of weekend family fun options that the states offer, and because of that, beach time becomes old quickly too. Sometimes they would rather just be at home and play there, but we all needed to get out and breath in the salt spray and let the warm water wash over us and take away the stresses of the work and school week. And last Sunday, the kids had no option. I told them we were going to the beach to float. Period.
It's amazing how much floating soothes my soul. The ever constant movement of the tides, knowing life in and below the water keeps going, no matter what. Swimming, diving, snorkeling, and really any time in or on the water has always given me a sense of calm and peace that I don't feel from other forms of recreation. I'm by no means a "sailor" type of water person who could go out for days and months at a time, but short stints in "liquid languor," enjoying the beauty and quietness of mind that being under the water provides makes everything else bothering me in life melt away for awhile. It's kind of like giving your burdens over to God to carry. He takes them on His shoulders, and carries them for you, so you can rest, just as the water takes the weight of my body and supports it while the sights under the water carry my mind away from my troubles. So, next time you have the opportunity to spend some time at a coast near you, be sure and pick up something to float on while you are there and find out how languishing in the water can soothe your tired soul and renew your spirit. Or find out what your version of "floating" is. Like the "green pastures and still waters" that David talks about in the Psalms, it's important for all of us to find a place where we can quiet our minds and truly rest.
Friday, October 7, 2011
October 7, 2011-Happy Saturday!
On Saturdays, the last day of the work week for us, I exchanged the usual "Happy Saturday" good morning greetings with my co-workers. Sometimes I even catch some of the ladies doing a "Happy Saturday" dance. :-) It's become part of our Saturday morning ritual, a sort of celebration of the coming weekend, time to relax and be with family. As much as I enjoy the experience of working, what I have learned from it, and how much I have grown through it, my favorite thing is to be at home with all my boys, at the beach with my very best friends, and when I can make it back to the states, hanging out with my extended family too. I know I have said it before, but the older I get, the more important spending time with my family becomes. Work is work and will always be there, and as close as we may become with our friends or attempt to immerse ourselves in the cultures and worlds of others while living or working with them, no one is there for you like family.
No one understands and accepts you just as you are like family. And today, I am so thankful for my fiance, my boys, my parents, my brothers, my best friend (who has become family to me), and my extended relatives and soon to be relatives back in Alabama and Oregon. I know they will be and are always there for me, no matter what storms life brings because they have proved it over and over again. More than once in my life, I have discovered that someone I believed to be a close friend and someone who I thought would be there for me no matter what because they understood me has chosen to pull away when things got difficult or has misunderstood me and instead of coming to me to resolve it has chosen a different path, and it has altered our friendship forever. These kinds of friends or acquaintances come and go and often serve an important purpose, providing us with life lessons we might otherwise have never had. And family, at least the one I am lucky enough to have, well, they are right there, waiting for you to come back from exploring life elsewhere or to hold you up you when you cannot support yourself. I hope and pray that all of you have someone (whether it be blood relatives or not) that you can call family because life is so much richer and sweeter when you have "family" to share it with. Happy Saturday! Enjoy your weekend.
No one understands and accepts you just as you are like family. And today, I am so thankful for my fiance, my boys, my parents, my brothers, my best friend (who has become family to me), and my extended relatives and soon to be relatives back in Alabama and Oregon. I know they will be and are always there for me, no matter what storms life brings because they have proved it over and over again. More than once in my life, I have discovered that someone I believed to be a close friend and someone who I thought would be there for me no matter what because they understood me has chosen to pull away when things got difficult or has misunderstood me and instead of coming to me to resolve it has chosen a different path, and it has altered our friendship forever. These kinds of friends or acquaintances come and go and often serve an important purpose, providing us with life lessons we might otherwise have never had. And family, at least the one I am lucky enough to have, well, they are right there, waiting for you to come back from exploring life elsewhere or to hold you up you when you cannot support yourself. I hope and pray that all of you have someone (whether it be blood relatives or not) that you can call family because life is so much richer and sweeter when you have "family" to share it with. Happy Saturday! Enjoy your weekend.
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