Better Than Life
Our family beach trip is a tradition we all look forward to every summer. Over the last few years, we’ve been to Wilmington, NC, Saint Simon Island and Tybee Island, Georgia, Saint Augustine, Florida and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, not in that order.
This year landed us at Fripp Island, a place of natural beauty, near Port Royal Sound in southeastern South Carolina. This land of abundant wildlife features long stretches of beach and picturesque marsh land.
Speaking of wildlife, the deer aren’t afraid of humans. Every morning they’d come up to our house looking for their breakfast of cereal, handed out by our grandkids.
We took walks along the surf, rode bikes, explored the island on a golf cart and attended a beach worship service. We celebrated our four August birthdays, played games, enjoyed the surf, played disc golf, and went out to eat.
And we rested; my favorite part.
From the comments I’ve gotten, we all feel as if our time at Fripp was one of our best yet.
But, our time was not without its share of significant troubles. We had a jelly fish bite, a tic bite, a dog bite, and my son-in-law’s golf cart broke down. And, to top it all off, I had a near life altering eye injury, spending the last few hours of our vacation in emergency rooms and on an operating table in Charleston.
The trip was a true microcosm of life. Troubles happen. Try as we might, some difficulties can’t be avoided. It may sound strange, but the problems we faced, and the way we loved each other through them, added to the depth and quality of our time together.
The troubles weren’t the main thing. The fellowship was the focus. The difficulties did not destroy what we experienced. In fact, they gave opportunities for expressions of love which would not have been possible without the hard times.
I want to take the richness of our beach experience and see what I can apply to all of life and the troubles we face.
After all, Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world (John 16:33 NASB)”