Being with my family at the Beach

When we had our beach house, one of the remarkable benefits was the spiritual grace that the place provided to me. I could sit on the deck, watch the ocean, the gulls and the pelicans and be in the presence of God. It was something that happened almost as soon as I sat down with my book or just sat down to wonder at the beautiful surroundings. When we lost the beach house, I lost the wonder of those spiritual moments. It took me a long time to find them again. They came back to me in the middle of writing sermons and having conversation with my family.

We have returned to the beach with the family to celebrate our 55th wedding anniversary. Rosie and our kids, Melanie, Jennifer and Heather; our grandkids, Alison, Lindy, Taylor and Casey and Alison's husband Pete along with our great-grandkid Samson Rodgers are here. Melanie's Beth has come with us and Jessica Varrone, a buddy of Alison's came along. Stephen Wood with his friend Robin and her son Noah have joined us, and my brother Geoff and his wife Rosie will be here later today. It is an elegant gathering of this whole clan and the spiritual moments are returning to me. I love watching Sam play on the floor, listen to the whole gang talking about nothing and witness the industry of everyone trying to make the whole of us happy. The kids cooked dinner last night, a fancy feast of flounder tacos and specialty salads and sauces that made our mouths water. We are very lucky people to have all of this love surrounding us.

We played golf on Tuesday, Heather, Taylor, Melanie and I drove around nine holes at the Oak Island Country club and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We lost some balls, had horrible scores and even broke somebody's window on one of the holes. I don't understand why the build homes so close to the fairways. We will fix the window and make it all right. The nice man has our phone number and we will be in contact with him as soon as he gets an estimate on the repair of the window.

The great joy of all of this has been the companionship and the wonder of being together. If this isn't the work of God, it isn't anything. What wonder relationships hold for us all.