seaside

A little while back I was lamenting what seemed like an endless stretch of busyness, it seemed like every minute was filled with something. I missed times of solitude, time with God and time with Josh. I thought to myself, the Brits have the right idea, stopping everyday for afternoon tea, alotting time in the work year for holidays, just having a slower paced lifestyle. I don't like being busy. I want to be someone who always has time to take walks, to listen when people need to talk, to play with my kids, to be quiet before God, to reflect. I want to learn to just BE. Anyway, we just had the huge blessing of spending Josh's Spring break at the beach. There was no agenda, other than just being together, it was awesome. We played and swam and stood where the waves rush back into the ocean until our feet were buried in the sand. We laid in bed and watched the sunrise over the ocean. I love the beach. The coconut smell of suntan lotion and salt water made me feel like I was five. My folks used to take us to Ocean city in the summer. My brothers and sisters and I would jump waves and build drippy castles till our skin was pink and our eyes burned from the salt water. Then we'd change and stroll the boardwalk full of stores that sold t-shirts that said things like, 'I'm not bald it's a solar panel for a sex-machine.' There was cotton candy and ferris wheels and all manner of carnival charms to tantalize a child's eyes. I would drag behind staring through the cracks in the boardwalk as the tide came in and foamed on the sand beneath. It was so fun watching my kids play in the sand and showing my new baby girl the ocean for the very first time and dipping her tiny toes in it. Swinging my sand-covered kids in the waves to rinse them off definitely beats being the sand-covered kid.