FIVE THINGS ABOUT ME

My delightful friend and fellow "Mom to Mom" Bible study leader, Jean Stockdale (see her link at right) has challenged me to share FIVE THINGS ABOUT ME.

1. I love the ocean! I could sit for hours on end just watching the waves roll in and out. I love the sight, the sound and the smell. When I go for a visit, do NOT put me across the street or where I have an "ocean view". I won't to be within spitting distance, if at all possible! (I don't have to get IN it to enjoy it ---one close call with the undertow did it for me ) There I can shut out the world. There I can feel the presence of the Lord all around me. "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon the many waters." Psalm 29:3

2. My favorite Phillip Keller book is Sea Edge, now out of print. Every time I get the chance to go to the ocean, I take that book. The first chapter is entitled "My Bit of Beach".

From the first hour that I strolled, barefooted, along the shimmering sands of this remote bit of beach, I fell in love with it. It lay warm, secluded and peaceful at the base of rugged cliffs that had faced the surge of a thousand Pacific storms.

It had taken patience and endurance to discover the spot. I followed every road and scrambled down any cliff trail that led toward the ocean edge. Some trails came to empty dead ends. Even more were closed to public access. Then, at last, one sunny afternoon in eary May I clambered down a steep, broken bank overgrown with wild beach peas and found my bit of beach.

A profound sense of peace swept over me. It was every bit as real and palpable and strong as the incoming tide running across the golden sand. Here was intense inspiration of spirit, as tangible as the warm thermals rising against the sun-drenched ramparts of rock soaring above the beach. Everywhere was beauty, splendor---the eternal impace of my Father's wondrous design conveyed to me in grandeur and loveliness.

At such moments----interludes of intense delight and keen spiritual perception----our inner souls long with exquisite yearning to know that somehow they shall endure. And little did I dream on that sun-splashed spring day, seven years ago, that in God's own good time, my permanent home would be perched on a height of land just a few hundred yards from this special spot.

Such is the gracious touch of God's hand upon our little lives. It is His generous pleasure to give us dreams. It is His unique habit to help us see those fond hopes come to exciting reality and heart-pounding fulfillment. This is all part of the exquisite wonder of knowing Him as a dear companion.

He and He alone, was aware how I would be nourished by each breath of so much space and light---such sharp, cool, clean air from the vastness of the ocean. Here He would, through the sea and sand and sun and surf, disclose to my heart eternal principles that stirred me to the depths. Here I would understand some of the mystery of His ways with man. Here He would speak to me in terms a comman man, like myself, could clearly grasp with acute perception.

From this bit of sea edge He has shown me, dramatically, tremendous truths in the form of ocean parables. These cameos of His own greatness are not mine alone to be hugged only to my heart. They are a legacy for all of us who have come to know and love Him.

3. I love chocolate, especially dark chocolate.

4. I am blessed to have a circle of friends called the "Divine Divas". Most of us have been friends for over 30 years! We meet once a month for dinner and some of us who still have small grandchildren meet once a month for an outing with them.

5. I love to scrapbook!!!!!! I can lose myself for hours...no, days if given the opportunitiy...to scrapbooking. To me, it is more than just collecting photos. It is creating a legacy of faith for our children and grands so that in the ages to come they will see how God blessed us and how He was faithful to us.