Push to the beach.

Let's start this post by giving a shout out to the people with the plan. Not the people like me who say, "Wouldn't it be fun to ...." or "We should...", but the people who say, "We've booked a vrbo at  Folly beach for these days, would you like to join us?" Those are the powerful people who make the world go round. So that happened in our family, my daughter-in-law being the awesome one. Once I knew where I was supposed to be and when, I got myself there.

It was a joyful gathering with 3 sons and 2 daughter-in-laws, 4 grandchildren, 1 brother and his wife and 3 nieces. I was happy as a clam in the house surrounded by merry loved ones full of energy and happiness. I was so happy that the thought occurred to me, "Do we really need to go to the beach to make this day great? I mean, there will be traffic and parking and sand all over the place." That was the known, we also had to deal with the unknown, and we all know how scary that can be. Bravely, I recognized that the beach was the reason we had driven 5 hours and if I wanted to be with the people I loved, I needed to push through inconvenience and possible discomfort to the beach.

Well, guess what? There was a little traffic, a little trouble parking, (Don't make a mistake when parking in a beach town. You will pay. Luckily we learned from the mistakes of others with their expensive reminders posted on their windshields) sand everywhere and the unknown, that should have been known--getting a little bit lost. But guess what else there was? THE BEST DAY EVER!

The water was so big. I always forget until I remember. It was also warm and easily swimmable. The sand was sandy, but as usual, perfect for sand creations. The sun shone, but not glaringly. We had occasional respite from the clouds. We also had a fairly new beach ingredient, the best ingredient of all--grandchildren. I can't describe the delight of watching the little posterity learn about the waves lapping at their toes, covering their ankles and then pulling the sand from under their miniature feet. We definitely had to jump over the waves and sometimes not so happily learn about how salty ocean water is.

Activities included a beach nap for the 1 year-olds, Frisbee with my son and a stranger, and a special surprise. Number 3 son brilliantly brought his inflatable kayak and took me for an adventure. We headed out past the surf in the direction of the pier. He was patient as I tried to contribute my irregular and sometimes confused but always well-intentioned paddling. I was having a lovely time moving through the gently rocking water when my son saw something. He said, "There's a shark." I thought, "That's cool. Just stay in the boat." And then we realized it was not a shark. It was a dolphin swimming not very far from us. Then two more porpoised on the right. There I was in the Atlantic ocean on a kayak with my son and dolphins swimming and jumping all around us--magical.

So, to apply this to mortal and eternal life, I want to remember to be content and thankful for what I have, but recognize that achieving the higher goal is worth the stretching and working and suffering inconvenience and even a little discomfort. It's nice to rest and gather on the couch, but then we must PUSH TO THE BEACH!