O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the world Thy Hand hath made...

Well, things are pretty much back to normal now, and I'm enjoying being back home.  I LOVE going on trips, but I also love being back in my house...and with my family.  This was the first time we were able to spend a whole week away on our girls' trip.  It made it so much easier to travel the distance that we did, and gave us extra time to enjoy the sights, but I'm not used to being gone from Dennis that long!

I have discovered that I absolutely love the beach!  I've never thought of myself as the beach type, but now I understand why folks go so crazy over it.  There is something so peaceful and mesmerizing about the ocean.  Even though there are some obvious annoyances (the heat and humidity and the sand that gets in everything), they are a small price to pay for the beauty and relaxing properties of the sea.  I could have spent many more hours playing in the waves or just watching the changing colors.  It was so cool to see the effect of the changing light on the water:  from the pinks and golds of the sunrise, to the emerald green during full sunlight, to the silvery blue when the clouds moved in and the golden bronze of sunset.  I never tired of watching the waves build as they came in, until they broke over in foamy whitecaps.  I loved feeling the buoyancy of the water as it lifted me up and pushed me towards the shore with each wave.  I don't know if it is because our first sensations of life are of being suspended in fluid, or if it is something else that makes being in the water such a relaxing and pleasurable experience.

I also really enjoyed seeing and interacting with the various sea creatures.  Who doesn't just love seeing dolphins?!  They are such friendly animals and always seem to be smiling.  I got a kick out of watching all of the water birds...especially the pelicans.  (Is it possible to look at a pelican and not smile?)  Being able to hold a live starfish and feel its little tube feet as it tried to move across my hand was amazing!  And visiting the turtle rescue was a special treat for me...I love turtles!

This has been such an amazing year for me!  Being able to travel to so many places and see so many new things has been a wonderful blessing.  From the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota, to the lush green forests of Idaho, to the majestic Tetons and rushing waterfalls of Yellowstone, to the emerald green beaches of South Padre.  I've seen snowstorms in Nebraska and Wyoming and rainbows over the Gulf.  I am constantly amazed at the absolute beauty and variety of God's creation!  No matter where I travel, there is always something to see that is interesting and lovely.  I hope that I am allowed to see even more of this vast and gorgeous land in which we live!

Psalms 95:3-6  For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.