A blanket full of blessings

I have polished off two watermelons since Friday. It has been HOT in Cape Town. Saturday was a real scorcher. Unfortunately for my family, there is a force within me telling me to nest that is just as strong as the watermelon-consuming force. Instead of taking it easy in the heat, I did 4 loads of laundry and started deep-cleaning.

I hit my boiling point that afternoon and took the kids to the beach for respite - both from my nesting and the pulsing heat of our house. The other 4 million residents of Cape Town had the same idea and were packed like sardines along the coastline, streets and grassy banks. But we had come too far to turn back. Benjamin bounced on my belly during our long walk from the car to the oceanside. I had to crawl UNDER someone's truck (while they were in it) to retrieve the shovel he dropped. We were committed.

I stopped at the first sandy spot big enough for our blanket. Never mind the incoming tide. We'd solve that problem when we had to. Lifa and his friend snacked out of the cooler we had lugged from the car. My friend and her toddler unrolled a towel next to us. Together, we relished in the cool breeze, waves and sound of little boys laughing as they buried toy cars in buckets of sand. At one point, a stray nerf dart hit me in the shoulder, and I offered unsolicited feedback to a strangers' child. The whole scene would have been Chris' personal nightmare. But that wind... those joyful giggles... and cool waves crashing against our legs. I could only see beauty.

I thought about Psalm 18:19. "His love broke open the way and he brought me into a beautiful broad place. He rescued me—because his delight is in me!" (TPT) An ultra-packed beach didn't look like a beautiful, broad place if I fixed my eyes on circumstances, emotions or nerf darts. But when I listened to waves and laugher while sharing a picnic supper with sand between my toes... when I looked at the blanket full of blessings and dearly loved friends around us... I could clearly see that He has brought me into a beautiful broad place. That openness and peace is available wherever we are and in whatever we do. We just have to look.