Soak It Up
Aloha! My fellow Hudson, Ohioans can appreciate how thrilled I am to be writing from "the big island" of Hawaii on this February day. It is not often that I get to accompany Adam on business trips, but once a year, I am treated to a wonderful getaway and this year, we landed amid the lava and the palm trees. I couldn't complain once about the long flight, the early morning, or the plane food. I just knew that at some moment not too far in the future, I would be stretched out on a lounge chair by the pool, blue sky above and sun shining down. My prophecy came true on the very first morning after breakfast. Am I some sort of psychic?
It was hard not to think about all kinds of things on the flight from the mainland to the island. When my mind would wander toward places I preferred it not go, I tried to steer my thoughts in other directions, distracting myself. (Note to self: like my children, I am easily distracted.) Looking out of my plane window, it was also hard not to realize how very small I was indeed in the midst of this great big sky. Instead of being unsettled by this fact, I chose to let myself feel lifted and protected by all of the air and clouds. There was an awful lot of space around me. . . nothing but space, in fact. And just this one plane, at least as far as I could see. How could it not be supported?
This morning, we took a deep sea fishing excursion. As we were leaving, a fellow traveler said to me, "I didn't know you were a deep sea fisherman!" Uh-oh. I seriously hoped that wasn't a prerequisite, as I fully intended to simply help reel in whatever the gnarled captain from the Gorton's box chose to catch. Turns out we were to be glorified helpers, indeed, but in fact, our lines did not even warrant a tiny nibble. But there, on the front seat of the boat (aft? starboard? starfish?) I spent three quiet hours, just soaking up the ocean and the sunshine around me. There were boats and whales and a captain (only slightly less Gorton-ish than expected) who was informative but allowed us to relax. And I was small again, against this stunning backdrop of God's creation. Twice in one week. One boat, one girl, one giant ocean. Even the breaching whales, magnificent as they were, didn't seem quite as big against this space. And here, there were but a few boats in my view and one massive expanse of water. Sinking seemed quite against the odds.
And in that peaceful time on the boat, I was reminded that while we are each unique to this world, while we are each given talent, while God knows each of us by name, it is paramount to sometimes sit back, to soak it up, to remember that even on those days when we feel very big (perhaps on those days most of all) that we are each just one tiny part of a most magnificent creation. Tonight we are having a picnic under the stars. . . I can only imagine how that will make me feel. One small planet, that great big sky. . . I'm sure you get the idea by now! And on those crazy days that are bound to come once in a while, when I feel I might go under, maybe I will take a breath and remember the sky, the ocean, the stars. And I will remember that amid all of this glory, a glory of which I am a small but important part, God knows me by name. And how could I not feel supported?
It was hard not to think about all kinds of things on the flight from the mainland to the island. When my mind would wander toward places I preferred it not go, I tried to steer my thoughts in other directions, distracting myself. (Note to self: like my children, I am easily distracted.) Looking out of my plane window, it was also hard not to realize how very small I was indeed in the midst of this great big sky. Instead of being unsettled by this fact, I chose to let myself feel lifted and protected by all of the air and clouds. There was an awful lot of space around me. . . nothing but space, in fact. And just this one plane, at least as far as I could see. How could it not be supported?
This morning, we took a deep sea fishing excursion. As we were leaving, a fellow traveler said to me, "I didn't know you were a deep sea fisherman!" Uh-oh. I seriously hoped that wasn't a prerequisite, as I fully intended to simply help reel in whatever the gnarled captain from the Gorton's box chose to catch. Turns out we were to be glorified helpers, indeed, but in fact, our lines did not even warrant a tiny nibble. But there, on the front seat of the boat (aft? starboard? starfish?) I spent three quiet hours, just soaking up the ocean and the sunshine around me. There were boats and whales and a captain (only slightly less Gorton-ish than expected) who was informative but allowed us to relax. And I was small again, against this stunning backdrop of God's creation. Twice in one week. One boat, one girl, one giant ocean. Even the breaching whales, magnificent as they were, didn't seem quite as big against this space. And here, there were but a few boats in my view and one massive expanse of water. Sinking seemed quite against the odds.
And in that peaceful time on the boat, I was reminded that while we are each unique to this world, while we are each given talent, while God knows each of us by name, it is paramount to sometimes sit back, to soak it up, to remember that even on those days when we feel very big (perhaps on those days most of all) that we are each just one tiny part of a most magnificent creation. Tonight we are having a picnic under the stars. . . I can only imagine how that will make me feel. One small planet, that great big sky. . . I'm sure you get the idea by now! And on those crazy days that are bound to come once in a while, when I feel I might go under, maybe I will take a breath and remember the sky, the ocean, the stars. And I will remember that amid all of this glory, a glory of which I am a small but important part, God knows me by name. And how could I not feel supported?
Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be Very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained! I’m sure you had fun writing this article.
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Good luck getting people behind this one. Though you make some VERY fascinating points, youre going to have to do more than bring up a few things that may be different than what weve already heard. What are trying to say here? What do you want us to think? It seems like you cant really get behind a unique thought. Anyway, thats just my opinion.
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Truly inspiring, touching and moving true stories. Every human being is a bunch of different life stories. Let us keep knowing and learning.
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