Amazing

It never ceases to amaze me. I stand in ankle deep water as the ocean rushes in to the shore. The sound is deafening. Sometimes the water splashes higher toward my face or chest. I look straight ahead. All I see is water stretching endlessly into the horizon until, in some trick of the eye, it meets the sky in a distance that seems to be a million miles away. Another wave crashes in. My feet shuffle down as the sand beneath my feet slips away in various directions.

We have come to the beach for a few days away. It is hundreds of miles away from the care and concern of the day-to-day life we embrace. Now and again, we feel the need to get away. We need to feel the sun on our face. We need the sand between our toes. We smell like suntan lotion. Our hair goes unkempt for parts of a day. We go off our normal diet and eating schedule to eat trail mix and cheese sticks and Saltines.

We come here to take a deep breath. We leave our work world behind. We may take the time to start or finish a book. We may play cards. We may people-watch. We stick our feet in the deep end of the pool. We sit on the beach and just stare into the distance.

Every time though I find this moment where I stand in the ocean and lose myself, just for a moment. As the water surrounds my feet, I look ahead and see a sea of blue, water and sky. I am standing at the edge, just barely in the water. I consider all the water I can see then struggle to understand how I cannot really fathom how to ever measure it. Birds sometimes flutter by overhead or hop away from the white foam on the ground. Another wave curls then grows in the distance until it crashes into me. The sand beneath my feet melts away. I feel very small in the grand scheme of things but not worthless. I am always amazed.

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

~Genesis 1:2

Funny Does It

The older I become I more vividly realize how life seems to come faster than before. Maybe, I am just becoming more measured than before. Either way, life does not slow often enough these days. As a parent, this seems to be a constant yank-and-tug back and forth between the obligations you have committed to and the family who needs and expects your undivided loyalty. Don’t think I am complaining because I am not. I realize I am blessed with the life I share with my wife and daughter and with family and friends.

Still, the day-to-day sometimes weighs heavy on a body. Work and worry often spoil the good part of life while eating away at time and energy. Even though I feel I have been around long enough to know how life ebbs and flows, I am continually amazed how in a low moment something unexpected happens to make me refocus and better appreciate my life.

That said, recently one evening at home, we exercised our regular routine. Homework was completed while supper was cooked. Afterward, we sat at the dining room table to talk with each other while we ate a meal together. The kitchen then had to be cleaned and Hannah needed a bath before bedtime. This night though we were super-efficient. When I wiped off the last kitchen counter to walk into the living room, Hannah still had some time before getting ready for sleep. She then urged me to watch her perform some gymnastics.

I admit I was not sure what my role was to be in all this. Frankly, I was tired from a day at work and really wanted to just sit down for a few minutes. Hannah persisted. I soon found out I was nothing more than a semi-active spectator. She asked me what gymnastic moves I would like to see her attempt. I had to admit to her I wasn’t very informed about gymnastics lingo. She rattled off six or seven things she could do. I caught the name of maybe three things.

For the next few minutes, I called out the name of some maneuver so Hannah could attempt it. I found out I not only am unfamiliar with gymnastics terms but I also have no idea if she was performing those moves correctly. None of that seemed to really matter. She flipped this way, cartwheeled that way and balanced on her hands against the wall.

At one point though, she tried something and it went humorously wrong. She started laughing. This gave me permission to laugh as well, which at that moment was much easier to do than to hold the funny inside. We laughed for a few seconds. I soon realized that part of her laughter was watching and listening to me laugh.

She then looked at me and said, “I love to hear you laugh.” That hit close to home as making others laugh is one of my favorite things to do. She then proceeded to half-heartedly mock my laughter. We both laughed some more.

Time passed. It was soon time to get ready for sleep. After Hannah and Jennifer had turned in for the night, I sat alone with one solitary lamp lighting a corner of our living room. The busyness of just a few minutes earlier had faded into a peaceful quietness. Funny, how I was still tired but I felt somehow revived. I thought about that laughter we shared and that moment in time. I understood how laughter, as advertised, is good medicine. I was also very grateful our daughter embraced laughter enough, even at her own expense, to share it with me. I pray that no matter how old she gets she will understand how a good laugh will always be good for her soul.

Happiness is good medicine, but sorrow is a disease.
~Proverbs 17:22