the beach

This past week/weekend the family had planned a trip to the beach, sort of as a celebration for my mom and our family and all we've gone through this past year. we like to go to the beach fairly frequently but weren't able to last year because of all of mom's stuff.
Dad and I went up before everyone else and we spent the night surf fishing which was fun, even though we didn't have much luck. The next day my mom and my little sister arrived and we had a fun dinner with some sweet potato fries at a little restaurant on the island. Then me and Dad went fishing with some friends at their beach house while mom and sister watched. They're lame. haha but we caught a few and it was a fun night.


I woke up the next morning and had my quiet time on the beach. I still am in awe when I think about it. Like sitting there in the midst of God's beautiful creation while reading words God has spoken to His people isn't something I took lightly. IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL. Even the seaweed, I didn't even care. Everything around me was unfathomable. I have NO idea where it came from, but a line from a Nicole C. Mullen song was stuck in my head that weekend and described my unattainable thoughts.Who told the ocean "You can only go this far." ? It's things like looking at the ocean that make you believe our Redeemer lives. I would go and stand in the ocean and just wonder how God made every wave crash in at all, yet alone rhythmically. I can't even begin to understand, and that's just the beginning of God's works.


After a wonderful morning some friends came in, who are basically family.We've known them forever and they've been a huge blessing to us especially this past year. We spent most of the day at the beach, Julia and I branched off and went to the pool for a bit. Then after everyone got freshened up we sat down at our table in the condo and had a nice dinner together and went out for ice cream which is one of my favorite food groups. 
Then Julia, Davis and I stayed up after everyone went to bed and watched Justin Bieber's Never Say Never. This was my second time seeing it, it still made me want to dance. It's like a singalong I swear.
The next morning I went down to the beach for some more quiet time. This time I added a little Kari Jobe on my ipod to the mix after I finished which was nice. Two random guys made fun of me for reading on the beach, then they noticed one of the books was my Bible and they all of a sudden had respect for me and wanted to be my friend. . . it was weird and I was busy listening to Kari Jobe, duh.   After quiet time I met up with the crew and went into the ocean for a little bit. Where at some point Davis managed to get stung by a jellyfish three times. That's talent. I'm not a big fan of being in the ocean, not sure why.. then I went up to the condo and took a shower and when I got out we had visitors!
Craig and Melissa hung out with us for a bit, so that was fun! They're precious. Later our little group went shopping then we went out to dinner where we saw a girl who looked like Taylor Swift. HAHAHA. anyways.
We then proceeded to take a nice night walk on the beach barefooted then came back to the condo and made s'mores :)
Then it was time to go. The next morning we packed up, took pictures, prayed and then headed out.  It was sad, really. I love the beach.

Of course, can't leave out the fact that I was sad because my buddy wasn't there..