My View

It is my daily  privilege and joy to wake up, walk over to the sliding doors, open the curtains and be treated to a magnificent view of Deerfield Beach,  In order to watch the waves, I have to look out the window, past the deck chairs and railing, past the condo palm trees, the single lane road with vehicles passing by, the parked cars, tiki huts and people walking along the side walk . Then I need to gaze past the sandy beach with the jumble of umbrellas, beach chairs, and the fascinating people gathered from all over the world. (I am informed that Floridians are rarely down at the beach since this is their winter and almost never in this temperature of water...so I guess I am looking at Americans from the North, Europeans, South Americans and Canadians :-).
There is a lot to see.  But by far the most replenishing perspective for me is that of the ocean with both its horizon and point of contact with the beach.

I have long thought that the reason people love creation is because it speaks of our Creator.  The sight, sound, smell, feel and taste of the ocean can move us beyond the moment.  Today, the wind is whipping the waves into towering curls that slam the sand at irregular intervals.  But I can miss all of that if I focus on the sliding door in front of me.  It is so easy for the cares of this world to crowd out God - the details, the things that won't matter one teeny bit in the end.  I have noticed that while the beach is their destination, many who are sitting right on the beach rarely even look at the ocean.  There are iphones, kindles, ear buds, magazines, etc.... So one can be within steps of the ocean and essentially miss it.  So strange.  I get distracted so easily.  When I was a child, my Dad would remind me that the only things from this world that would last forever would be people and the Word of God, so his encouragement was to invest in them.  Jordan's journey brought many things into sharp focus for our whole family and virtually all of the things that bothered or concerned me in 2011 rarely crossed my mind in 2012.  We had to focus on what really mattered.  I so don’t want to let the little things get in the way. 

The overwhelming sense these days for me is one of gratitude….for the people from all over who have walked with us and whose prayers are still holding us up.  Gratitude for the space to restore, revive, recover.  Gratitude for the privilege of being Jordan’s mom and having a wonderful husband, two amazing sons and friends and family to journey with.  Gratitude for a Heavenly Father, Wonderful Saviour and Holy Spirit who never leave me alone.