Kids Have A Way Of Reminding Us To Enjoy Life

The onset of the recent summer-like weather and receiving Ellie’s most recent school photos has got me in a nostalgic kind of mood. I was reminded of the events of a vacation a few years ago and I found this article that I had written about that occasion. Here it is just as it ran about four years ago. Enjoy.

Last week I had a chance to spend a week with the family that saw so little of me the past month and a half. We went to that wonderful vacation spot that nets so many of us Tennessee mountain folk each year, Myrtle Beach. I don’t know why so many East Tennesseans developed that migratory pattern, but ever since I was a kid, when someone said they were going to the beach 99% of the time they meant Myrtle.

This was the first time in many years that Paige and I have been at Myrtle during the peak summer season. We usually go in September or October when the beaches are a little more secluded and the line at the seafood buffet is nonexistent. When we rolled out on the beach last Wednesday, it looked like ants on a sugar cube. There were people everywhere. They were throwing Frisbee, “boogieing” on boards, men were holding down beach chairs and women were reading the latest Harlequin romance novel. We could barely find a plot of ground to throw down our beach towel.

It took about 30 seconds for me to make up my mind that I was not going to have a very good time. You see, I don’t like the beach as much as I used to. It may have something to do with the fact that when I put on my bathing suit, I look like six pounds of sausage stuffed in a four-pound skin. I used to love to body surf. Now I dread having to pick sand out of places sand ought not be. It takes me half an hour to lather my 27-acre body in enough sunscreen that I don’t end up looking like a fire engine. “For the sake of the family unit,” I would tell myself, “I must put on the good face and brave the mass of humanity.” Then a strange thing happened. Ellie discovered the ocean.

There is something I can’t quite describe that happens as you watch your child experience something for the first time. It is almost like you experience things again for the first time. I forgot what it was like to dig your toes in the sand and to dance away from the surf before it “gets” you. There really is intrigue in digging a hole and watching it fill with water. Remember putting the shell to your ear the first time? Ellie showed me how to appreciate the beach again. We forgot anybody else was on the beach as we watched her laugh and play. For me, the ocean was big again! It was great.

Children have a way of making us slow down to experience what life has to offer. As children of God, we should be reminding each other of the important things in life. In John 10:10, Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” If you try to make a go of it any other way, you are settling for something much less than God’s best in life. Take Jesus by the hand today and take a jog through life’s wondrous surf. God will seem big again.