Catching Up

Summer vacation, bat infestations, fire ants, peach cobbler, sweet southern tea, horse camp, beach bonfires, alligators . . . where do I begin?

We drove up to our house 9:30 PM this last Wednesday night after leaving my brother's S.C.  beach condo at 7:30 AM. Fourteen hours on the nose. What a trip!

We, the girls and I, left our PA home where my husband stayed to work and watch the dog, two weeks ago and drove 11 hours to my parent's house in N.C. There we enjoyed a relaxing stay at the 37-acre farm where my parents have lived since we moved there during my high school years. My sister arrived from N.J. on the weekend to celebrate several summer birthdays and visit. My brother and his wife came and dropped off their daughter & dog for the week. We thoroughly enjoyed taking care of both!

The week was a full one with the girls attending horse riding camp, a generous gift from my parents. Lazy afternoons were spent picking beans from my dad's garden (pictures to come later) and reading favorite books. Lindsey loved helping Grandma do crossword puzzles. It was an incredibly relaxing time. At the end of the week, I packed up the girls and the dog and drove the 4 hours to Seabrook Island outside Charleston where my brother and his wife have a place.

There, we thoroughly enjoyed the beach, fireworks on the beach for the 4th celebrations, a patriotic parade, lots of time to relax and enjoy God's beautiful creations on the beach. We dug our toes in the sand and found live sanddollars. We threaded chicken necks to catch crabs, even though it started raining so we left the crab dock. We walked and swam, wondering what various creatures were swimming underfoot. It was great.

We also received a golf cart tour of a local camp called St. Christophers run by my friend and her husband. It was awesome catching up with this dear woman I've known since high school and hearing about the work they are doing there by the beach, all in the name of the Lord.

Now, it is time to get back on track, writing, reading the text I'll be teaching in the fall, etc. etc. I will be in a short independent film coming up. More on that later. I was sorry to miss being in a movie in Atlantic City while I was gone but precious time with family was worth more than one day on the set.

On our drive home, I surfed the radio channel before starting our audiobook that Lindsey had picked. I came across a message from Dr. David Jeremiah on the perfection of God's timing and will for our lives. It was very timely after all the celebrity death coverage (Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson) while we were away. We only have so much time here on earth but if we give it to God, he will do his perfect will in our lives. There is such peace in knowing that what God intends for us to do, he will equip us in the time we are given. It was a great inspiration for an article I was writing for a local Christian newspaper.

The amazing thing was that 12 hours & about 4 states later, we were switching to the next audio CD and the same message came over the airwaves on a different channel on the radio. It must have been broadcasting throughout the day at different times in different areas. Even my daughter recognized the brief snippet of Dr. Jeremiah's message and said, "That's the same thing we heard earlier." I knew I had a message I needed to share. God's will is perfect. His timing impeccable. It is a beautiful thing. Praise the Lord.