sweat, tears, or the sea
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| {found via pinterest from pretty little things} |
we visited peter's cousin in florida for a few days last weekend, and in those days our kids experienced the ocean for the first time.
friday we took a quick trip to the beach, and saturday we took them out on chris' boat. even though keane was apprehensive at first and adele hated her life jacket they both got used to it fairly quickly, and ended up loving it.
and as they enjoyed the wind and the spray from the ocean on their little faces i thought to myself: remember this. impress it upon your mind.
impress upon your mind the ocean today: the navy blue inkiness in the depths and the deep aqua green on the sandbar. it almost looks fake - like mouthwash, so pefectly green-blue. impress upon your mind the green-black of the trees in the distance. remember your kids' faces the day they first saw the ocean. remember their delight as their toes touched the water for the first time.
remember how keane insisted upon getting in the water in his soccer shorts even though we weren't planning on swimming that first day. remember how adele's little face lit up when she felt the water and the sand on her toes. remember the comfort keane found when telling him i wouldn't let him go despite the fact that he had on a life jacket.
remember keane lying down on the floor of the boat, and holding on to the captain's chair so he wouldn't have to sit down, or let me hold him. so he could "do it myself."
remember adele falling asleep while holding a cracker on her daddy's lap, and sleeping through the majority of our drive back to the dock. remember keane sitting between my feet, and slowly sliding against my leg as he fell asleep.
remember sitting in the surf with keane and watching the little fish as the waves washed over our bodies and legs. remember writing numbers in the sand to remind him what they looked like, and his insistence that we also write "papa". remember daddy burying him in the sand - complete with a fish tail. remember taking a walk looking for seashells, and then after he had a bunch, putting them all back.
remember adele's delight with all of it - the sand, the sea, the beach toys. remember the look of joy on her face when she started getting sand everywhere, and how she squirmed to get down when i picked her up. remember how she splashed in the water when she could, and didn't seem very intimidated by the waves.
remember the moment of abandoning my own cares about getting sand everywhere, and simply embracing it. enjoying it with my kids. all of it. even if it meant getting sand on every inch of me, and bringing back with me what felt like a whole beach.
there is something about ocean air that gets inside of you and makes you breathe a little deeper. something about it that fills you up more. there is something about the sea that speaks to your soul. it proclaims God to me. it reminds me of who he is. it reminds me of the grace that washes over me. the grace that keeps coming time and time and tide again.
i've been thinking about a lot lately. we have a lot of things on our plate right now, and our "break" from coaching will be officially over as of monday. and even though our trip stretched us a bit too thin, in some ways, and even though we're still recovering; i needed a breath of ocean air.
it wasn't exactly a break, but it was a reminder. and for that i am thankful.
which cure do you need today? sweat, tears, or the sea?
remember how keane insisted upon getting in the water in his soccer shorts even though we weren't planning on swimming that first day. remember how adele's little face lit up when she felt the water and the sand on her toes. remember the comfort keane found when telling him i wouldn't let him go despite the fact that he had on a life jacket.
remember keane lying down on the floor of the boat, and holding on to the captain's chair so he wouldn't have to sit down, or let me hold him. so he could "do it myself."
remember adele falling asleep while holding a cracker on her daddy's lap, and sleeping through the majority of our drive back to the dock. remember keane sitting between my feet, and slowly sliding against my leg as he fell asleep.
remember sitting in the surf with keane and watching the little fish as the waves washed over our bodies and legs. remember writing numbers in the sand to remind him what they looked like, and his insistence that we also write "papa". remember daddy burying him in the sand - complete with a fish tail. remember taking a walk looking for seashells, and then after he had a bunch, putting them all back.
remember adele's delight with all of it - the sand, the sea, the beach toys. remember the look of joy on her face when she started getting sand everywhere, and how she squirmed to get down when i picked her up. remember how she splashed in the water when she could, and didn't seem very intimidated by the waves.
remember the moment of abandoning my own cares about getting sand everywhere, and simply embracing it. enjoying it with my kids. all of it. even if it meant getting sand on every inch of me, and bringing back with me what felt like a whole beach.
there is something about ocean air that gets inside of you and makes you breathe a little deeper. something about it that fills you up more. there is something about the sea that speaks to your soul. it proclaims God to me. it reminds me of who he is. it reminds me of the grace that washes over me. the grace that keeps coming time and time and tide again.
i've been thinking about a lot lately. we have a lot of things on our plate right now, and our "break" from coaching will be officially over as of monday. and even though our trip stretched us a bit too thin, in some ways, and even though we're still recovering; i needed a breath of ocean air.
it wasn't exactly a break, but it was a reminder. and for that i am thankful.
which cure do you need today? sweat, tears, or the sea?
xoxo
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