MISSING ANYTHING?

Maybe it’s not something that’s missing, but someone. For me, it’s both. I miss the whole family crowded on the wraparound porch at “our” beach house at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Mama found it, then rented it for several summers, until she left for heaven, and we “kids” took over. Not cheap but a small price to pay for a taste of heaven. It was a no-fuss place, where truly sandy feet were welcomed. It did help that there was an outside shower and a hose for rinsing sandy feet.

So for a number of years, the place represented the pace and peace of being in No Care, the beach house in North Carolina. We ate on the screened porch, where fans whirled above us. We boiled shrimp and corn on the cob. Cut up watermelon. Churned homemade ice cream. See why I said it was like sampling heaven? Not that I know what’s on heaven’s menu, except Jesus said that “eye has not seen, nor mind conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” (I Corinthinas 2:9) And God knows, I’ve got a vivid imagination.

Well, as I write, I’ve noticed it’s getting close to my nap time. So, I’m picturing the porch in North Carolina. Insomniacs didn’t stand a chance. Between the setting and the sea breeze, you were a goner. Bathing suits draped over or pinned to clothes lines, flapped in the breeze, like Summer’s flags. While rocking chairs, ceiling fans and hammocks transformed the porch into paradise. And for all those summers it felt like we were drawn to a place where time just took its time. Love lingered. Joy hung around. And grace was more than a “blessin'” before passing the shrimp, corn on the cob or watermelon. Grace moved among and in us, blessing us back then. Still does.

Well, I’ve got neighbors who bless me. And the other day Beth Graham, sent me something she’d written. It was about a gift. Grace. She wrote, “Some might call it magic. Others, serendipity, but I call it grace. An unearned gift that just appears.” She ended with, “That’s how it is with grace. You need to be awake enough to notice it.”

So I ask, ” Are you awake to God’s Grace?” Is something missing? It’s so easy to let life’s troubles and responsibilities nudge us to hit mute and miss some of life’s grace notes. Do we need to hit reset, so we’re more alert to Grace that we’ve received? Or grace we’ve been nudged to extend to some one or some situation?

Well, I’ve got my eye on the rocking chair in my living room. It’s not the one on the porch in North Carolina, but it’ll do. Sometimes grace shows up to help us flex, accept plan B as a gift. And if I open the sliders to the deck, I’ll get a whiff of sea salted air. Then, I plan to close my eyes and imagine heaven’s porch, full of rockers, familiar faces, and celestial air infused with the scent of shrimp, corn on the cob and watermelon. Oh, and I hope to calm my mind enough to hear the sound of someone churning peach or vanilla ice cream. They were mama’s favorites, besides Butter Pecan. But I’m sure she won’t be picky.

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