Photo credit:ahisgett (creative comons)

When I was growing up, January was decision making time for our week long summer family vacation. Mom, Dad, my brother, Russ, and I didn’t like change much so we usually unanimously voted to go to the beach in Florida or south Alabama.  One year Mom and Dad thought it sounded educational to go though Williamsburg on the way to Virginia beach.  They lost eight year old Russ for a couple of hours at one of the historical sites.  He was in a theater watching a 20 minute Colonial history movie over and over and over.  The next year we went back to Alabama.

Every day the vacation schedule was about the same.  Breakfast in the hotel dining room, the morning split between the beach and pool, then lunch and repeat for the afternoon.  We always saved one day for deep sea fishing.  The Virginia Beach summer Russ ate too many blueberry pancakes before boarding the fishing boat. That disaster needs no description.

On the beach Russ and I would spend hours right at the edge of the surf where the waves broke. One afternoon we watched a beautiful lady with extra long legs wade out to pose for a picture. We tried to warn her about the huge wave coming but she just smiled at us. It knocked her down and pushed her upon the shore like a beached manatee.  She got up with her swim suit top around her waist saying words I’d never heard before.  She wasn’t from Alabama. Cussing sounds a little less crass in French.

I learned a very important lesson from the beach. When a wave is coming, you really only have 2 good choices … dive under it or ride it in.  I ate a lot of sand figuring out that concept. Trying to solve a problem the other day I remembered Russ and the waves and how many times we spit out sand before learning to either dive under or ride it in.

I suppose as adults, when waves of challenge are headed toward us, the choices are about the same as they are when we’re kids at the beach; dive under, ride it in, or eat sand and cuss in French.

“Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.”    ~Proverbs 2:11