Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Heart Talk from Susan Miller- July 2010

Dear Moving Friends

The beach is one of my favorite places to go during the summer. Of all the beaches I have known, none holds my heart like the beaches of Destin, Florida. I grew up along the NW Coast of Florida, known as the Florida panhandle, where my dad served for many years, and later retired, at Eglin Air Force Base.
The beautiful Gulf of Mexico, with its emerald green water, and sugar white beaches, are an intricate part of my childhood memories. I have walked those beaches, picked up sea shells, climbed the sand dunes, played in the water, courted Bill there during our dating years, and took our children there for their first taste of sand and salt water. Any opportunity I have of going back to wiggle my toes in the sand, find a spot to nestle in, spread my beach towel, and gaze out at the Gulf, is as refreshing to my heart and soul as the cool water is to my body when I first go in the ocean. So you can imagine my excitement when plans began to form many months ago for a “girls’ weekend” in Destin with my daughter, daughter-in-law, and three granddaughters.
And then came the oil spill in the Gulf, affecting and changing the lives of those who work and live all along the coast—as well as the emerald green water, and the sugar white beaches we all love. When my eight-year-old granddaughter heard about the oil reaching the shores of our beaches, her spirit was not dampened at all about going there. Her response echoed the thoughts of our family, “Well Nana, if we can’t go swimming, we’ll just find a place somewhere to build sand castles on the beach!” And, that is what we will do—we won’t give up, or give in to the oil spill. We are still going to Destin. We will build sand castles on the beach--somehow, someway. We will find new things to do together as a family, and make memories. Perhaps it will be to pitch in and help--somehow, someway--to make our beaches beautiful again.
My granddaughter’s response is a lesson for us to remember. I couldn’t help but think of how many times our plans, hopes, and dreams are changed or altered through circumstances beyond our control. Never lose heart, my friends. Don’t give up, or give in, to the disappointment and discouragement that can so easily consume us when life doesn’t happen as we’ve planned. Wherever you are, whatever the circumstances may be--go out and build your own sand castles in the sand—somehow, someway. “Behold, I will do something new. Now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19) (….and even sandcastles in the sand!)
From My Heart to Yours,
Susan Miller

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