Waiting out the storm...

Galen Rowell

Storm on the Ocean

I love to go to the beach or be near the water. You wouldn't think so to look at me...pale and not of a size to grace a bikini. Yet, I do.

I like to go when most everyone else has left for the season. Yes, some may think that the beach looks lonely without all those baking bodies and frollicking young'uns but, to me, it's peaceful. I feel as if God is right there walking with me in rolled up jeans, barefoot, looking for seashore treasures and listening to the constant ebb and flow of the surf. Oh, sweet peace.

Yet, being someone who's lived near the water for some years, I know how that peaceful shore can errode under the ceaseless pounding of wave after wave during a hard storm.

I have moments in my life that are like that peaceful seaside walk. I treasure them. The smiles of my boys, a shared laugh with Hubby, catching up with family...my moments generally don't come with fireworks or any sort of grand display, but they are to be treasured, none-the-less.

Then there are times when that seaside walk, both figuratively and literally, seems a million miles away. Sickness, grief, self-doubt, endless chores, words spoken...words not spoken....they all combine to turn that peaceful shore into an erroding sandy strand in the middle of a fierce, merciless storm.

So here I am on my hands and knees looking for those sand-covered treasures despite the fact that the waves are getting higher and the wind is picking up beneath threatening, purple clouds. Yet, I know that the storm will pass and joy will, indeed, come with the morning. If you need to find me, I'll be the one sitting on the beach with my treasures of love and joy gathered around me watching the horizon for the break of day....