Surf's Up, Dude!

     When we told Dylan we were going to the beach for vacation this year, all he wanted to do was buy a board and catch some waves.  I tried to explain to him that you don’t get real surfing-type waves at Gulf Shores, but he was determined to ride them.  He finally conceded to skimming over the shallow water on a boogie board.  Now that was his mission.     
     I know I have been to the beach several times in my life, but I really only remember the last trip, summer of 2009, and I was ready to go again.  Floating on the waves during that trip was so relaxing and spiritual.  I felt a connection with God there like I had not felt anywhere else.  Thoughts about being out so far your feet don’t touch the bottom and you have to depend on your float to hold you up and carry you back to the shore.  When my feet couldn’t touch, I did not have control of where I went.  I just had to ride the waves to wherever they took me.  That was the lesson I needed then.
     So this trip I was looking for another spiritual awakening.  Surely there’s another lesson on those waves, maybe even a good blog post (since I haven’t written anything in a while).  Teaching the boys how to swim out and ride the waves back in.  To not panic and just enjoy the ride.  And when you land on the shore, just walk back to our spot on the beach.  No big deal.  Or maybe watching them learn to ride those boogie boards.  I have no expertise in that area (surprise, surprise), and they could watch those who seem to know what they’re doing and get some pointers from them.  Teaching them to respect other people’s property.  Very few places you can actually just leave all your stuff laying in a pile under a tent for days at a time and nobody bother it.  And even if they do borrow the little plastic shovel and bucket, they bring it back.   Buy if they didn’t, there’s no hard feelings anywhere.  Can’t even get that kind of peace in my own  yard at home.
     So I was looking for inspiration in everybody else’s circumstances, but I never thought I would get another lesson while doing the exact same thing as before, riding the waves.   I was determined to paddle myself out into the deeper water, where my feet don’t touch the ground, and just lean back and relax.  I pointed my float in the direction I wanted to go, paddled my arms, kicked my feet.  Nothing.  Still in the same spot.  Hmm.  That’s odd.  I tried again.  Same thing.  Now this is getting embarrassing, and I’m getting a little tired.  “Try one more time,” my mind told me.  This time it seemed like the water was helping me.  It felt like something under the water was pulling me out further and further.  “Alright!” I thought.  “Maybe I’ll finally get somewhere and I can enjoy myself out here like last time.”  But a little ways out, I realized what was happening.  Whatever was under the water pulling me out, was making the deep water deeper.  It was feeding the swell that would become the next big wave.  All of a sudden, I was lifted and moved.  I thought I had landed back where I started, but I was actually closer to the shore than when I started.
      So what lesson did I learn?  Be careful of those currents under the surface you can’t see.  They may appear to be helping you get where you want to go, but in reality they are only helping to grow something far bigger than you.  Something that will send you crashing back to the shore.  There to find comfort in your beach chair, shelter under a tent, and safety in the arms of your beach towel – I mean God.