God's Beauty

aka: we went to the beach finally!


Saturday we set out for the beach with some friends. It was about a 30 minute drive to one on the navy base south of us. But is was worth the drive!

Kristen and I tried to get artistic with sweet beach shots....well, its a work in progress!

Attempt 1: sea grass

Attempt 2: Pretty flower with hazy-Kristen-being-artistic in the background ;-)

While trying to get close to one of many giant hermit crabs a creepy worm thing fell on Kristen's shoulder. We decided to not stick around since it was creepy and resembled a blood sucking strange creature of death. In our professional opinions of course!

But we did get close enough to catch one of them on... film? Well, on digital camera card at least! His shell was 5 or 6 inches long and his claw was big enough we didn't want to try messing with him. Though I would have gladly videoed Kristen had she attempted to pick him up for closer examination! :-)

There were also smaller, happy crabs that run around the sand, until they know you are near and then they make for their holes.

Did you see him? There's a reason God made him sand colored!

Obligatory picture of person with ocean. Enough said (you can all thank Kristen who insisted I had to post the loveliness).

Started our Guam seashell collection! Lots of coral as well. I failed at my attempt to remove the crab from a pretty shell (too many years since I did that one, Im out of practice!). Was still trying when Kristen took pity on him and made me put him back. Next time I will succeed!

I wish I could have taken pictures of what we saw snorkeling! Fish of all differnt types, teeny tiny ones, big ones. A couple angel fish the size of my hand that made me think of my mommy :-) (she always likes to have one in her aquarium). The bottom went out a ways fairly shallow (maybe 6-7 feet) and then dropped off suddenly to so deep you could barely see the bottom. And yes, we even saw some in-an-anemon-nemonies ;-p

Kristen had never been snorkeling before so it was a lot of fun not only to be back in the water but also to get to share her first reaction to viewing life "under the sea" (cue singing crab with a fish band here ;-p).

It was all breathtaking. Something I had forgotten over the past few years. Jess and Kristen and I kept having to come up and say again how amazing our God is and how beautiful and diverse He made His world! Maybe sometime I can get an underwater camera and campture some of it for you all. But for the moment I guess all I can say is it was like swimming in a giant tropical aquarium. Truly amazing!

I did lose a contact into the great blue expanse of the Pacific... Hopefully no fish tried to eat it or else said fish might not be feeling too great right now!

And Kristen got a bit too close to a fish who tried to attack her... (It was one of those coral eaters with the really strong teeth and jaws. But stripes of about ever color of the rainbow- BEAUTIFUL!).

And I kept humming which makes it hard to keep your mask stuck on right and your breathing tube clear! But I suppose if I had drowned it would be nobodys fault but mine!

Those were only minor happenstances that just added texture to the quilt of our happy beach day :-)

Nice day in totality at the beach with friends, old and new.

After we got home and cleaned up, our roomie loaned us her car so we could work a while in our classrooms and then make a Kmart run for some things we needed.

As the sun was going down on our day in order to rise for yours, we stood on the open front of the school building outside my classroom watching the sky turn amazing colors that are impossible to capture accurately in a picture. We were all wondering....

How did we get chosen to minister in paradise?

I know there will be many days ahead when things will be hard and sleep will be short. Days when I fail as a teacher and have the strong temptation to hate our 87* weather and the endless sweat it brings. Those broken laminator when I desperately need it, didnt have time to make coffee, lost my lesson plans, every kid in the class is being evil, I stubbed my sore toe days.

They will come.

Because where the Lord is at work doing great things, Satan is also at work trying to draw out of each of us the most un-Christlike qualities we possess. But when that happens we are able to see more clearly what we need to allow God to change in us, right?

On those days (after I cry about not having coffee to keep me awake) I will remember days like these. Days where my mind was filled with every song I know about the greatness of our God. So many that not even I could remember all the words to all of them! (love you Dad A :-p)

I will remember He is greater than the problems I percieve to be crushing me.

I will remember the beauty of His creatures and His sunset.

I will come back to this post and remember that I am here because it is where He has called me to be, even on the days when it doesn't feel like paradise.

And I will praise Him.

I pray you will each do the same, no matter what the trials in your day are. Remember they are coming to make you look ever more like our Savior. And praise Him for His beauty!