Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The Seven Day Summer Speculation: Day Two

1. A Favorite Memory
     So when I'm in Hawaii, one of my favorite things to do is, of course, go to the beach! The beach is one of my favorite places- there's such a sense of reverence and peacefulness there, and I can't help but marvel at God when I stand with my toes buried in the sand, the waves washing over my feet and foaming as they retreat back into the vast ocean. It's like that LeAnn Womack song goes- "I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean." It's impossible for me to be there, surrounded by so much intense beauty, and not be drowned in how much I'm in love with Him and everything He is. 
     This is, of course, magnified when I'm surrounded by my wonderful family :). On July 5th, we gathered a huge caravan and all headed down to one of my favorite beaches, and just spent the day there, eating, talking story, laughing, watching my nieces and nephew and my sister swim and play in the water... it was an immensely wonderful, simple day.
Then, after we'd had our fill of the surf and the sand, we took the kids to a random field with their boogie boards, and my grandpa went and found them some cardboard boxes, and we spent the rest of the afternoon sliding down the hill until the sun went down. It was so incredibly fun- everyone took turns sliding down and dragging the boards back up, even the adults! It really put into perspective for me how it's not what you do for fun, it's who you do it with :). This leads perfectly into observation #2, but first, some pictures.
2. A Lesson I've Learned
     You make or break your relationships and your situations. It's really as simple as that. Attitude is everything- you can go into something with a negative attitude, with a pessimistic perspective, and your outcome will be just that- a negative, unsatisfying experience. There is something good in everything, and everything you find or see affords itself to have a positive impact on who you are and what you do. Even simple things, like cardboard boxes, a grassy hill, and those little ice cream cups that you eat with a wooden spoon :).

3. A Wonderful Relative
     My Granny is absolutely, without a doubt, one of the most unselfish people I know. She gives and gives, and think absolutely nothing of it because to her, seeing the smile on the face of someone she's helped is all the reward in the world :). She puts everyone's needs before her own, whether it means giving up her seat at dinner when all of the family is crowded into our tiny family house so that she will have to stand, whether it means making someone else a cup of coffee, even though hers will get cold, or whether it means pitching in money to help a family member or a friend in need, even if it means she'll have to go the extra length to scrimp so she can afford what she needs. Sometimes it blows my mind to watch and be affected by the giving spirit that she has. It's true that sometimes she SO giving that it gets a little overwhelming, but I admire and respect that so much, and it is something I aspire to myself- to have such a giving spirit that there are no limitations on how you give, how much you give, or who you give to. It's love, compassion, and kindness all rolled into one... it's no wonder that she and my Granpy have such a phenomenal, incomparable marriage. That's what I would love to have someday.

4. A Realization
     I am going to skip elaborating on this section this time, because the Lesson and the Family Member sections combined cover that perfectly well enough :).

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