A DOSE OF PERFECT

I had a 'dose of perfect' today. A rare and wonder-full day of rest. I WENT TO THE SEA ~ TO BREATHE!

Arthur Gordon says in his book A Touch of Wonder:
	"To find endurance
	all we have to do is seek out places
	where great and elemental things prevail.
	For some of us ~ the sea."

So I enjoyed a whole afternoon and evening alone, on a blanket in the sun, feet in the sand, good snacks,
 my Bible, my journal, and God. Heaven!!!

I journaled 38 pages...

AWE-some! I've come to the Sea... to breathe. Semiahmoo at low tide ~ sparkling waters stretched out 
before me. I am in the cleft of a log, on a small patch of Northwest Washington gray sand... out of the wind 
- which feels like a perfect breeze to cool the afternoon and keep the clouds away - just for me.


			THINGS THAT FLY

			Feathered things
			have wings
			and dwell
			in the air.

			They fly free...
				birds of all kinds,
				angels,
				little girls,
				and me.

			We:
				start out crawling,
				earth-bound things,
				then grow and change
				and find our wings.

			'Ascended Life'
			is meant for me,
			not feathered, but
			winged and free!



			THE SONG OF SOLOMON

		The wisest man who ever lived was first and foremost a lover. 
				Wisdom - leads to love.
				Being wise - leads to loving:
					more fully,
					more deeply,
					more passionately,
					more completely.

				God, 
				make me so wise
				as to love those you give me, 
				well.


BEING  GRANDMA

I walked the beach and searched for rocks that reminded me, for some reason, of each grandchild - and 
wrote them each a poem.


THOSE WHO SUFFER

Those who suffer
know a deep wisdom
of which the happy
can never guess.



MY LIFE

My life is about to turn unusually multi-colored.
I want to create colors no one has ever seen!


THIS DAY

This day is delicious ~ because it has no 'have to's.' Very, very rare. I've carved it out of this week - rather 
adamantly - through many requests and some teasing - the worst suggesting I may be 'indulgent.'

The best part of my self-care plan is this non-directed day in the sun by the water. As waves lap - my mind 
is free to wonder. I am letting myself BE. I didn't learn this in church, or my family. I learned it on my own - 
led by the Spirit - in trying to figure out how to be ME. With life's rush and people's needs - it's so easy to 
lose oneself. I've paid too high a price for being a lost human being - and then, again, for finding my self -  
that I am now rather adamant - albeit not often enough - that I must come to the sea to breathe.

My husband has accepted it - but still doesn't really understand. He just knows it is essential in the 
rhythms of me being me. He likes the results - so has stopped arguing with the ingredients of the process.

I refresh by free time and space. This world affords little of it.  I've learned to create it. 


I NEED

... to walk righteously
from a calm center
of trust and obedience,
not straying from rest,
increasing in wonder,
in awe of all things.

Entering The Kingdom
with child-like wings,
serving my Savior
but not as a slave,
'Withed' as a lover
riding His waves.


THE SUN SETS ON AUGUST

I linger
and am made glad
	by a fat black otter
	scuttling across the rocks
	into the cold evening sea...

	by the biggest dragon fly
	I've ever seen,
	capturing his flying dinner
	right above my head...

	by two scraggly herons
	crossing over the moon
	slivered like an end parentheses
	in the sky...

	by a golden path on the sea
	turning fiery backdrop
	then emitting soft beams
	out-raying through after-glow mist
	as the blue sky darkens...

	a couple in love
	light a fire to keep warm,
	with waves still rippling
	their lazy beat on these rocky shores.

Just one more, God,
one more 'wonder'
and I'll head home...

	sparkling city lights
	twinkle on, across the bay
	
	an airplane jets people away
	who are less fortunate than I,
	who sat by the SEA & BREATHED
	all afternoon and eve.

I AM IN AWE. 
I'M CALLING TODAY - "A DOSE OF PERFECT."

I bought sugar-free ice cream on the way home
and picked blackberries to go with -
in the dark, by flashlight,
with my husband.

PERFECT.