A good-for-the-soul kind of day

This might sound silly, but I've always felt closest to God when I'm at the beach.  I've been that way ever since I was a little girl and when we would take family trips to the coast every summer.  It was as if I could reach out and touch the horizon and He was right there within my grasp.  As I got older, I would take my Bible out to the balcony of whatever hotel we stayed at and read and pray.  I would watch the sun rise and listen to the waves and feel the sea breeze in my hair and it felt as though God was right there - embracing me, surrounding me.  It's always been "the" place for me.  And not just for enjoyment, but for rejuvination and rest.

On the car ride home from church yesterday, I began to cry for maybe the umpteenth time that weekend.  My heart was aching and I had a lot on my mind and I blurted out to Todd how my soul was needing the beach.  I wished we could go, even if just for a little while.  And I tried to talk myself out of what I was needing.  Because how silly to need to run to the coast for a few hours just so I could get this invisible God-hug.  I told him I thought it was a dumb idea anyway and I went silent.

We got home and I crawled into bed for our usual Sunday afternoon nap.  Todd came in a few minutes later and told me to get ready.  His parents were coming over to stay with the boys and he was going to drive me to the beach for the day.  He knew it was what I was needing.  Before I knew it, we were on the road with our Icee's and beach towels, heading south.

The second I could see the Cos-Way, I quickened with excitement and anticipation knowing that the waves and the water and sand were within reach.  As a little girl, that was the sight I always waited for.  I knew we were getting close whenever the giant bridge came in to view.

The moment I saw the water and heard the waves and smelled the air, I was ready to run to it.  My tired, achy, sad heart ran to God.  As I stood there taking in some of my most favorite scenery in the world, I thought about all of the many moments and seasons of my life where I ran.  When I was angry or hurting or confused and would run from Him and run hard.  I ran away a million times.  And if He has been doing anything in my heart the last few years, it's been creating a heart in me that still runs.  But instead of running away from Him, I'm running to Him.

And that's exactly what I did yesterday.  I ran to Him.  

I walked and I put my toes in the sand and I took in every crashing wave, every hue of blue in the sky, every seagull's song and I let myself feel embraced by this God who meets me at the horizon and reminds me not only that I am loved, but reminds me of who I am.

I could have stayed for hours.  I could have stayed all week maybe.  But even though I knew it was for a short time, it was absolutely everything that I was needing.

Todd and I walked along the shore for a good hour searching for seashells.  The kid in both of us still surged with excitement when we spotted a piece of sand dollar or a unique colored shell.  We brought them home with us, these fragile pieces of spontaneity and adventure.  A reminder of our day, a reminder of God's faithfulness to show up.  And a reminder of the love Todd has for me.

Wave after crashing wave, sand on my shoes, sun-kissed on my shoulders, I didn't want to leave.  

But I knew we had to.  My heart had it's perfect fill of the ocean's tide and the sound of the waves.  And of my Jesus who was faithful to meet me there and fill me back up again with His peace.

Before we headed back home, we stopped for dinner at our favorite restaurant in Port Aransas.  A little shack of a restaurant called Snoopy's. Sand on the floor, seabreeze-only air conditioning and some of the best shrimp you could ever eat.

They have an incredible view right on the water and we ate and remembered the other times we had come here, some with friends, others on random, spontaneous day trips to the beach much like the one we were having now.  We talked about how much we were looking forward to our family vacation this summer, and how we'd come back again with our boys.

I'm overwhelmed sometimes at the love this man has for me.  He knew what I was needing yesterday and went out of his way to make it happen for me.  He knows my heart well enough to know that a couple of hours spent on the beach is worth the time it took it took to get there.  That a few hours spent in the car together by ourselves was even what we were both needing together too.

It was a good-for-the-soul kind of day.  And I'm beyond grateful for not only knowing that I have a God who sees me and knows what I need, but a husband who does too.