Life’s a Beach

I love the beach. Any beach. Just give me sun, sand, sea breezes, and the ocean spread before me with its rolling waves. Beaches figure in at least two of the books I’ve written so far.

Last furlough, a pastor we knew from deputation contacted us. He’d changed churches, was pastoring in Florida, and wanted James to share our ministry in his new church. However, at the time we didn’t have any openings for meetings left. He and James arranged that James would contact him for our next furlough. When furlough planning time came, James did just that and they set up a meeting time for the beginning of October.

In the meantime, my sister, her husband, and their two girls moved to Florida. October seemed like the perfect time to visit them, too. We made our plans and got everything set to head down there.

Then Hurricane Matthew developed. It didn’t even occur to us that it might be a problem until we were headed to Florida. We drove in strong wind and heavy rain for part of our trip – though it was only a tropical storm where we were.

We arrived safely, without incident. Thankfully, that was the worst we got.

We were able to visit the beach with my sister and her family two times while we were there. Both times the weather was perfect! The kids played in the sand and waves. My landlocked children learned to body surf. We finished up our last day at the beach with ice cream.

We had a great time with my sister and her family. They were so hospitable and opened their home to our gang. We spent hours talking, hashing over politics and computer apps, playing tennis, eating, and jogging together. It was hard to leave when the time came.

Our church meeting went well, too. We had a wonderful time reconnecting with the pastor and his family.

Maybe life really isn’t a beach, but when you have a little beach in your life (and fantastic family!), it sure makes it more fun!