Skip to main content

The peace of the ocean.



Most of the tourists and locals had headed home for the day as we arrived at the beach. The sun had already started to set, yet we wanted to at least get a little taste of the beach before heading home. It had been a long day of teaching and outreach with children in the community. Stepping out of the car the smell of the sea and beach hit me. As we walked towards the beach we saw the local fishermen with their batches of fish tidying up their nets. It was so peaceful.

Next to the beach was a fresh water lake and as I stepped into it the water was lovely and warm and perfect for a late afternoon swim. The water was clear and it was almost completely still, only interrupted by the ripples made by the kite-surfers practicing before they would brave the forces of the sea.

I swam for a bit before walking to the side of the beach with the sea.

As the sea entered my vision it was a powerful sight The waves were white and frothy, and with the tide coming in it was quite a picture. I stood and watched the sea for a while. I felt it’s force as I dipped my feet in. And yet, with all that force surging through the waves, it made me feel strangely peaceful. The kind of peace that comes when you realize that you are faced with something that is so much more powerful than you are. The peace that comes when you remember that God is God and I am not. The peace that comes from the reminder that God is in control.

And it is with the residue of that peace I sit here writing. I guess residue is not the right word, lingering describes it better. And I hope that the lingering  peace might settle and become normality rather than a moment.

Popular posts from this blog

Packing...again.

I just folded the last load of laundry and I’m almost packed. Off to the airport at 5am tomorrow morning, heading off to Amsterdam. I’m excited, a bit nervous, and wondering what it’ll be like. It’s been a good week at home with lots of quality time with family, especially the little nieces and nephew. I’m glad I’ll see them in April again. Well, not much to write and packing to be done and a bit of sleep would probably be a good idea too. Next time I write it’ll be from Amsterdam....
Read more

Single-tasking September: The art of single-tasking.

To change habits and ways of life, the motivation for change has to be strong, and the benefits outweigh the effort it takes to make the change.  For so long it’s seemed like the ability to multitask has been regarded as a great skill, but is it really a good thing? Recovering from burn-out, one of the effects I noticed was that it was harder to concentrate, and especially tricky trying to focus on many things at once. I’d try to multitask, only to realise that all tasks suffered from lack of capacity to complete any one of them. The challenge is that the habit of always doing many things at once goes deep, and when I tried to focus on just one thing, I found that it was actually really difficult.  As I did a little google search on the matter, I found it seems like multitasking isn’t as healthy as once thought, and that it doesn’t help productivity. Some even referred to it as “switch tasking”, in the sense that the brain isn’t doing many things at once, but shifting rapidly...
Read more

Small moments that mean a lot

Walking home on the crunchy snow that lights up a December evening,  I felt so thankful. The revelation that fellowship and being together is the best gift you can give someone, and realising that although it might seem small, it can turn into something big when a person feels seen and valued.  Yesterday I helped out with a crafts workshop for a group of lovely women volunteering for Crux where I worked before (well, in all honesty: they were making angels while I ate Christmas cookies, Quality Street chocolate, and chatted). I love walking alongside people in conversation, and realise sharing life for 2 hours can last so much longer in value and experience.  This evening we had our Christmas dinner for volunteers and people who are part of my current job. It was a delightful evening with many nations gathered around the same table…. eating the same food… and for a few hours creating a small fellowship moment that will become a good memory for the future. Often in my job ...
Read more