Written
By: Kirk Peterson
As we arrived at the beach, that feeling of excitement filled my soul. As we stepped into the sand on our journey, anticipation of fun and adventure filled my mind. I looked up and watched as the ocean came more and more into view over the sand as we drew closer. Just as we were about to step off the boardwalk onto the beach, a lonely beach ball came rolling by--blowing in the wind. I ran after it, hoping to catch it for the person who lost it. The ball was too fast for me, but got caught in the weeds. There it was, a larger than life baseball textured ball waiting to be rescued. I picked it up and looked around for the person who must have been running after it, but there wasn’t anyone in sight. I waited and looked further in the direction that the ball had come from, until I realized that it must have come from someone far away. Lost to the wind.
I gave the ball to young Cole to carry for us to the
beach. After all, the rest of us had too
much to carry as it was. The ball was
slippery and it didn’t take Cole very long to lose it back into the wind. I ran as fast as I could after that
ball. I heard my wife Heidi laughing in
the background. Even as fast as I was
running, the ball was faster. Again, it
found itself caught in the weeds on the outskirts of the beach. I picked it up and jogged back to the family. I fumbled with trying to hold on to the
slippery ball and the beach umbrella as we searched for a place to get set up.
As we got set up, it didn’t take very long to see that the
beach ball wasn’t going to fit into any bag we brought. I thought, this is what must have happened to
the person who brought it. I watched as
the wind tugged at the ball I had wedged behind our bags. I moved on to setting
up the umbrella and I heard my wife say, “There it goes again…” I watched as the ball went rolling away.
Teach
us to realize the brevity of life,
so
that we may grow in wisdom. (Psalms 90:12 NLT)
Brevity is an interesting word. But I think it captures what Moses was trying
to teach us. The truth from God that we
need to understand our own mortality. Time is something that never stops moving
forward. It is a river that doesn’t stop
flowing. There are all these moments
found in the rushing waters of life and far too often we forget to open our
eyes and experience them. I think the
routine of life can dull our experiences.
So here is the principle of why I’m writing this blog, here
is what I want you to take to heart from these words: Life
is beautiful. Enjoy it! Open your eyes and embrace each moment as they are.
To use a metaphor: If we are trees, then the sap is our
lifeblood. God is the source of life and
any truth without God is like bitter fruit. It may look good on the outside and
pleasing to the eye, but without the Almighty, you will find that when you bite
into the fruit, its inside is bitter and not what it’s supposed to be.
I looked down and found a little hermit crab swimming in the
waters. I pointed it out to the family
and to my surprise, my wife Heidi courageously reached down and put the crab in
the palm of her hand. She pulled it up
out of the waters with a smile on her face as she saw the wonder in our young
boys faces. Brody and Cole gathered
around as Heidi showed off our discovery.
We all touched the crab and watched as its little tentacles and legs
came in and out of the shell. Brody kept asking if he could keep the hermit
crab as a pet. That was when Heidi told
me the story of her free spirited aunt who kept some hermit crabs as pets. Yes pets….can you believe it?
As I looked back in the opposite direction from where the
ocean was, I looked up to the heavens and got this amazing view of the clouds
and sky. I thought to myself, hunh…here
I am turning the wrong way from where I’m supposed to be looking, and yet I
still get to see something beautiful.
God remains the strength of my heart, He is mine forever. (Psalms 73:26 NLT)
Come back to Jesus my friends.
See
Kari Jobe’s – “Forever” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huFra1mnIVE
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