Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Thoughts from the shore

We are enjoying a delightful family vacation.

We needed a time of togetherness. We desperately needed a time devoted to family and fun. We are getting just that.

While we've been here, I have had some thoughts. Not many since it is vacation, but a few that I would like to share with you.

1. When I gaze at the horizon from the shore, I feel like I somehow meet God's eyes.

2. How in the world does all of this water, sand, people, etc. stay on a sphere? I know the answer is gravity, but allow your mind to wander away from the laws of Newton and all of those other really smart folks and seriously ponder it. No wonder our skin gets stretched out.

3. Boys need their daddy. Period. It makes them into men. I am extremely thankful for the husband Ben is to me and the daddy he is to our boys.

4. Mommas are good at herding. I have found that I have consulted Ben numerous times during this trip as to what normal is in a pack of boys. My new official title for myself is Boy Herder-you don't ask them to "come here," when you have multiple boys, you herd. There is simply no other way to put it.

5. The ocean forces me to think about my book. It helps me sort out ideas and the rhythm allows for lines to come.

6. I have found that pivotal surrenderings take place for me while the smallness of myself is mesmerized by the vastness of the sea.

7. I am reminded by God to fear not.

8. It is a gift from God to rest, not to hurry, and to just be...I hope that even if you are not at the ocean right now, you will this day, this minute allow yourself to rest, to just be and to fear not. We are somehow suspended on this little sphere orbiting in space with water that doesn't splash off. Trust me, He has it all under control, whatever it is.

8 comments:

Tonja said...

Hello, dear, sweet Andi! So glad to hear that all your family is enjoying time together. I love what you say about 'herding'. It's true. Sometimes the best you can manage is to have them all in the same general vicinity!

Sure do miss you, and all my buds at FP. Hope to see you all...very soon!

kristen said...

You are so right about rest being a gift from God! So glad you are enjoying time with your precious familly. Have fun, Boy Herder!:)

Wanting What I Have said...

Hee hee. My dad always said having three girls was like herding butterflies. :)

Have fun!

Hillary @ The Other Mama said...

Oh, I love your beach thoughts and have a lot of those myself while at the beach! I'm pretty sure God "lives" there- knowing that God lives everywhere, of course. But you know what I mean.
YAY for you with a book (I didn't know!) and I'm impressed with your herding skills! I need practice!

Shauna said...

The last time that I was at the beach, we arrived after dark and of course wanted to take a walk first thing. I seem to remember it being a moonless night. I walked out into the darkness near where the water met the sand and I actually felt afraid. There was this vastness to it all - sky and earth and water all meeting. And since I could not see any of it, I felt so small and vulnerable. It was like I had no point of refrence... I'll never forget that feeling. I think that in (God's) reality I am much more like that small, vulnerable self than I am my everyday self. But how great to know that the Lord will never allow me to be "swallowed up."

Paula V said...

Such great thoughts here. Being a very analytical mind, I am often thought of number 2...how does it all stay on the earth...how does it all stay grounded? Well, I guess much like us...we are grounded through God. I just made that up...I mean the pun about being grounded. I crack me up. I do wonder how it's all done physically.

Glad you are receiving a blessed vacation!!!!!!!

Abby Maddox said...

Ohhh! I just loved these thoughts! Isn't it amazing what just a little peace and quiet in the midst of God's creation can do for you? :) Hope y'all are well!

Angie said...

I am so glad your family of five got to spend huge amounts of time doing whatever you wanted and a lot of not much at all! Awesome thoughts. Loved it!