Waves

My husband and I just returned from a few days down near Assateauge/Chincoteague. For those of you who didn't have to read Misty of Chincoteague in elementary school (sadly, my own husband suffered such a fate), Assateague is home to wild ponies who roam the wetlands and beach. Generally, you're lucky if you catch a glance of them on the road heading on to Assateague's beach front, but the hoof prints you'll occasionally see in the sand evidence that the horses (probably when the tourists have done home for the day) also roam the waterfront.

My grandparents have a little place in a trailer campground on the mainland, so I've been visiting the quiet beaches there since I was a child--and once even got to see the pony swim!

While I was reminded this week of how different things can seem when you're a child and when you're an adult, one thing I did realize was that playing in the sand, and watching what water does is fun...well...any time.

While our stay was marked my clouds, wind, and even rain, we did manage to make it to the beach a few times. Wednesday, we headed out, pails and shovels in hand, to build a sand castle. Five minutes in, as we both realized we had no idea where to begin, we both admitted we couldn't remember the last time we'd built a sand castle! We made a good go of it, but the biggest fun of the day was when we gave up the building part, and just worked on digging holes, seeing the water fill it, and watching what the waves could do.

Today, as we packed up, we headed back to the beach one last time, since Chris was sure that the high winds would mean big waves. Boy was he right! It was crazy! In fact, driving into the parking lot at the beach, it almost looked like the waves would wash over the sand and we'd get to see how well our Matrix would float!

It was pretty incredible to watch the waves. I could do that all day. To see what the water had the power to do. See see that the waves were so unpredictable, but unrelenting. There were at least a dozen sermon illustrations right there in front of me! Even just leadership illustrations--like how a wave that crests too early may look cool but as little effect on the shore. Or how the biggest waves were preceded by the largest flowing out of the water. On and on.

All of this made me think about the Visioning Retreat we had last weekend for Calvary UMC. I thought it was pretty awesome, and has the potential to have INCREDIBLE impact on our ministry. It's just a start, but it's an important one. And like the waves this morning at Assateague, I know the greatest force will come from our constant, and continued efforts to focus our energies and keep our momentum.

Last weekend, we came away agreeing:

Calvary United Methodist Church seeks and invites all to become disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of our community and our world.

It's a simple statement, and there are a lot of questions that we have yet to flesh out, but I'm really excited to see where this wave takes us, and how each wave will build upon the next as we seek to live out God's vision for Calvary, and indeed, for each of our lives!