Good morning, Beloved.
Last night the eastern horizon was clear except for a cluster of cumulus clouds in the southeast. They were still bright and creamy when I reached the beach. The sun was about 20 degrees above the horizon in the west, struggling to brighten up breaks in the cloud wall of a storm system mostly just over the island to the north, the river and the mainland, but only as far south as a little bit farther than right where the sun was setting.
A riot of magenta slashes, orange beams, golden spaces and red lines made it clear that the sun wanted to make it's exit known. But when I turned away from the tumult in the west, it was a relief to see that the sea was fairly calm. Only one gentl rolliing breaker swishingly tucked itself into the little drop at the tideline, the water interacting with the shells and coquino rock.
I joined the parade of walkers and runner for about 3/4 of a mile heading north. There were only a few cirrus clouds above my head, and they had already been turned black from lack of sunshine.
The cluster of cumulus clouds on the southeast horizon started to turn from cream and bright white to a hint of rosiness. I stopped walking from time to time,as is my custom I love looking out over the Atlantic to watch for birds, jumping fish or the fins of dolphins and sharks. Once I saw a sperm whale mother and her calf heading north at the end of the winter. The calf played around its mother's head, and I could see her head, back and tail. I saw the calf moving about and the effluent from both of their spouts and they purposefully kept moving.
When I stopped at the shore last night, sometimes I turned back to see how the setting sun's struggle with the clouds was going, or looked north to see if the wall of clouds from the storm system was enlarging itself.
Then all of a sudden when I was about halfway back to the motel, I saw a flash of lightning in the midst of dark mass of the northern storm system. I then checked out the cumulus group on the southeastern horizon, and just as I did there was a beautiful lightning strike in the midst of the clouds on the left edge of the group. Because the clouds already had some rose and orange coloring, the lighting wasn't just a bright sliver of light that I saw in the north.
The flash in the midst of the cumulus clouds seemed to fill the space in between them and sparked the other colors so that they all seemed to burst out from the center of some heavenly courtyard.
Then the rest of my walk, I kept looking from the storm system wall to the north to the cumulus tower cluster in the southeast as I was treated to a dueling lightning show, over and over.
How delightful!
The plovers were heading home. The little sandpipers finishing their skittering back and forth from the edge of the waves. The pelicans made their last forays above the surface of the sea seeking bait fish or just relishing the feeling of glide and flight.
I climbed back up the steps to the deck above the dunes, rinse off my sandy feet and sat in a high stool on the patio in back of the motel of a while, a view of the Atlantic punctuated by sea oats waving gently in the evening breeze.
In the Hebrew tradition, each new day begins at dusk, when the sun has set and the third of the first three visible stars come out. When I lived here before, I would watch the sunset on the beach and from the top of the overlook, then swim and float in the pool of my apartment complex and watch those first three stars come out, thanking God for the day that was fading away, and praising the Lord for the new day coming.
There is something that leads to peace to know that the day is starting with a chance to sleep and dream and rest in the Lord without the busyness of the day.
I hope you had a good night's rest and that this morning you are sure of God's love and that God has good plans for you, Keep relinquishing your own plans to Him. Keep entrusting your loved ones and your self to His care.
The Lord is my shepherd. He supplies all my needs. He leads me in the true and righteous ways. He restores my soul. Even when I am walking in a dangerous place, He is with me. He will use His rod to protect me from evil that comes against me. He will use His shepherd's staff to rescue me from danger. He will lay a table of bounty for me in the presence of my enemies. He anoints my head with oil for the purposes He has for my life. In a dry, thirsty land, the cup He pours for me overflows. he has promised that surely, indeed, absolutely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in His house forever.
Alleluia!
Those are promises I cherish. They are true for you, too, and for everyone you love.
Sometimes it's hard to be a lamb when we have the tendency to want to go out own way and be independent. But why don't you try it? The Good Shepherd loves you and wants to take care of you. Freedom in Jesus Christ comes from yielding to Him in the fullness of love. He will help you and show you that within the security of His grace and peace there is more than you can ever imagine.
You can cease your striving and feeling like you have to do everything your self. he will guard you, guide you, provide for you -- and show you what you need to do every step along the way.
My prayer for you, Beloved, is that you will come to know this peace, love and grace for the first time or in deeper and deeper ways every day of your life.
Kathleen Ware Harris © 2013
kwharris777@gmail.com
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