Cam and I made our way down to the beach for an afternoon dip.
It was windy.
Boy was it windy.
As the track opened up, we saw the skies filled with kite boards…..translation: body boards attached (sometimes) to people’s wrists – and it’s so windy, that they are flying high above the attachees.
Sand whipped our faces as we fought to keep our boards securely under our arms. As parents desperately tried to keep their kids from blowing away, little ones stumbled and fell. Balls, towels, anything lightweight flew away from their owners, making their way right down the other end of the beach, miles away.
This was one WILD day.
The life guards stood huddled together, trying to keep safe from flying boards and keep watch of those already in the water.
The waves reflected the chaos of the sand scene. No pattern, no rest. Mammoth waves, 8 foot off the top of the water. Smashing, crashing, dumping. Seaweed making it challenging to get out to where they were breaking at the back. But this time there was no back. There were only waves coming at us. Again and again and again.
What little energy I came with was soon used up in fighting to remain somewhere near where we had begun.
The currents swept people 100 meters down the beach, without them even realizing.
Traditionally, there was an ability to plan. A way to see what was coming next and deciding whether I’d catch this wave or the next….but these sets of waves, were constant, flowing, relentless in nature, leaving no time to ponder anything.
They just came at us. I fought hard. Cam found it a little easier than I did, being a lot stronger. As boards and legs tumbled all around me as every second person got dumped beneath the waves. It became almost comical, seeing their feet roll with the wave, as the force pulled them through and then spat them out.
It was at this moment, I myself got SMASHED catching a wave into shore, simply because I was tired of fighting against the wave. Dropping , rolling, trying to avoid others in the swell of wish wash. It was WILD.
As I stood, the wind whipped my board up into the air – kite board!!! I pulled it back down, not wanting it to hit someone in the face if the rope let loose.
This was one c r a z y day!!!
What to do?
Go home? Continue to fight? Succumb to the power of the waves?
Let go of expectation and planning. Let go of control. Just go with it!
It was at this moment, that I decided to just go with the whatever came..
So what if I got rolled. If I got dumped. If I ended up hundreds of meters down the beach. This was life! And I wanted IN.
I playfully made my way out as far as I could and then caught whatever came.
I didn’t fight it. I stopped struggling. I ceased to try and strategize or control what was coming my way….I simply caught the wave.. I caught whatever came my way.
The first one threw me down the face of itself, I held on for dear life and it’s power shooped me thirty metres down the beach and into shore.
What a wave!!! What a ride!!! My heart beat wildly for the thrill.
Let’s go again my childlike heart suggested.
So out we went again, wave after wave. No neat little predictable sets, but waves which intersected, crashed upon one another, joined with one another forming mega waves. It was impossible to do what I’d always done – weigh up the risk, deciding whether it was worth the effort….nothing I had previously done, was going to work here.
So I just went with it.
I leant into 2021.
I leant into whatever came.
I enjoyed the wave I found myself on.
I wasn’t distracted by other’s experiences, because I was feeling too much of my own exhiliration.
As I let go of all fear.
As I let go of control.
As I lived in the moment, I was empowered!
As I just worked with what came to me, I came alive!
I had enough capacity.
I didn’t get dumped, not once – because I was pliable, flexible and open to whatever came my way.
Did I stay where I was?
No.
Did I end up right down the beach ?
Yes.
What if the currents were taking where I needed to be and all this time, I’ve been fighting the very thing that was going to bring me to where I needed to be.
Fresh new environments.
Fresh new places, people and ideas.
What if 2021 was all about learning to simply ride the wave. Whatever came…..
God bless you precious and courageous one.
God bless you with all you need to engage with the elements, with Him and ride the waves that come your way.
Knowing that He has given you all you need.
Knowing that this could be the best ride of your life, if you choose to embrace the unknown!!!
In Jesus powerful name.
Amen.
xxxxx
