Let's Go to the Beach, Beach!

From our house, it is about a 10-15 minute walk to the shore. It's the same ocean as back in Florida but it looks a lot different than the ocean view I'm used to. There's no sand. It's black rocks. And there's really not like a big open area to lay out blankets and beach chairs and play volleyball. But it's the ocean. It still has waves and the salty ocean breeze that I love. Well on Wednesday, we had a free day and our translators told us we were going to go to the nice beach. So basically I was pumped! We were going to go to a nice beach with water we could swim in: every Floridia girl's dream! The nice beach (it really doesn't have a name) is within walking distance also. So to get there we walked on one of the main roads for awhile and then Wilson took us down a dirt path that ran in between houses. Not really the kind of road you would expect to take to a nice beach.

Finally we made it to the shore and it was obvious there were a couple problems. 1) It didn't look like an area I would define as a "nice beach". The water was brown. The sand was brown. And there was trash everywhere which is something you would not find on any of the beaches back home. 2) We had gotten left behind because there was a little miscommunication about when we were supposed to leave as a group and our house had kind of slept in. So naturally we expected everyone else to already be there. And it's usually really easy to pick us out because we definitely stand out. But there wasn't anyone. So we started walking down the coast because we thought eventually we would find somebody. Then way off in the distance you could see a bunch of white heads floating in the water. We had found them! But there was a catch. To get to the nice beach you have to walk along the rocky terrain of coast. Like I felt like I was on Survivor climbing over and squeezing in between rocks. And then we walked on this really tiny path and came out on what was definitely the nice beach. Still no sand but white stones. Sky blue water. Green mountains behind us. It was all there. And it was beautiful.

So as I'm trying to treat everything that happens on the trip as a teaching moment from God, here's what I realized about our beach trip. The different beaches we have visited represent the different places we are in our journey to find what God has for us. The beach by our house is like the beginning. We can be content where we are. It's not terrible and maybe we can even learn to love it. But maybe we have seen other things that show us there are better things out there than our little beach. That's the point when God calls us on our journey. Then we reach the second beach. We think we have been following God along all the right roads and we end up at a spot that isn't as nice as we thought it would be. We reached the end of the road. Surely this has to be it. And then God takes us on the road (or coast) less traveled to the place He really wants us to be. That is the place where we see and feel God in a new and powerful way. This is where we can dance in the water because we have reached the place that exceeds all the expectations we had. Right now, I feel like I'm walking along the coast between the second and third beach. That's what this trip is. God brought me away from a place I would have been happy staying in and now He's leading me to the "nice beach", the place where I can truly feel like I belong.

Going to the beach was definitely the highlight this week. Week two was more of a physical struggle than week one. Our bodies are adjusting to the food we eat and the times of the day we eat them. That has brought some interesting side effects. Sleeping at our house is sometimes a challenge. We have a tin roof which is great when there is a nice gentle rain shower. But there are cats and chickens that like walking around up there during the night and when it wakes you up, the first thought you have is that the aliens are coming. But we have lots of great laughs about it in the morning. One super cute thing happened on Valentine's day. The boys on our team told us to go to the beach at 7. They gave us all M&Ms and whipped out a candle and got all cheesy saying how much they love all of us. It was beyond precious! And today Wilson bought us apples! Which is a big deal because I hadn't even seen an apple since we had been here. He looked so proud to surprise us and make us so happy!
The verse that has been on my mind this week is one that I kind of picked out as being my motto for this trip. I read it as if I am the river because I can't succeed on this trip without God's strength and power flowing inside of me. Psalm 46:4-5 "There is a river- its streams delight the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High. God is within her; she will not be toppled. God will help her when the morning dawns."