It’s been a month since I posted. 🫣 April was a crazy time for a lot of reasons, but I expect everything to slow down from a sprint to a jog in the next week. In the meantime, I have profound beachy thoughts to share with y’all.
Yes, I went to the beach last weekend. And it was bliss. The ocean is my favorite place in the world. It is big and loud and beautiful. It smells good, and it evokes in me a longing for something more than this world.
Normally, I like to spend my time at the beach settled in a chair, listening to the waves with a good book. Or daydreaming as I roam through ankle-deep waves. But this time, the water was inviting me. I wanted to go deeper.
So I waded out into the waves, knee deep. For a moment, I was overwhelmed with the desire to share this with someone. Share this vast expanse of churning beauty. Share the memory. Don’t just dream of what could be as the ocean tickles my toes but experience what is as it churns around my body. And do that with someone.
Just after that thought washed through my mind, my friends and sister approached. “Let’s wade,” someone suggested. And we did. We kept inching forward against the water that pushed us back until we were up to our waists in foamy green water.
As the minutes became hours and the morning moved to afternoon, we stayed in the ocean, jumping waves, letting the current carry us back when our feet left the sand, wiping our eyes as salt water stung. The rhythm of the ocean was all around me, each crash of water slamming against my body. Foam bubbled like crocheted lace as each wave passed on. It was so beautiful.
Eventually, we got hungry. We retreated from the waves and inhaled a delicious lunch before returning to the beach. As I chugged water, and devoured chicken salad croissants, every muscle in my body ached. I felt beat up. Every slap of the ocean’s hand was fighting against my body.
And I’d never felt so rested.
I once heard that in order to rest your body, you should do something with your mind. The reverse is also true; rest for your mind means exercise for your body.
When you’re battling the ocean for the ability to keep your head above water, you can think of nothing else. It was perhaps the most cathartic experience of my life.
But beneath the rest for my mind, behind the exhaustion, beyond the short moments it took me to fall asleep that night was an even deeper truth. A truth deeper than the sea.
I felt the water beating me. I commented that it almost felt as though I was drawing energy from the ocean, and my friend explained that my body was probably responding to the cooler temperature and the force of the waves. The one time a massive wave dragged me under, I was surrounded by pulsing current and robust darkness.
The ocean is powerful.
Each wave I welcomed like a visiting friend pushed past the embrace of my fingers. Love for the sound and the sight and the smell would overwhelm me, and as I reached out my hands to run over the tablecloth of rippling sea foam, I found I could no more grasp it, pick it up, control it or make it stay than I could wrangle the air I breathe.
And there is a God who created that.
It all reminded me of a Scripture I’d read somewhere. It took a while to find, but eventually I discovered I was thinking of Psalm 24:2, The Passion Version (which I don’t use— I don’t know where I saw it!). The verse reads, “He’s the one who pushed back oceans to let the dry ground appear, planting firm foundations for the earth.”
The ocean is charged with violent energy and power. It makes me feel so small and insignificant. It’s common to look at it and wonder if there is anything more massive, more immense, more consuming. And yet, there is One that is mightier. He can literally push back the ocean with His hand. And I can only catch a few drops.
And this God, so powerful that He can harness the most wild of waters, calls me His daughter.
P. S. I took the photo above from our balcony as it was raining the day we left. The sea was violent and stormy as the smell of rain and ocean mixed to create the most wonderful aroma I have ever smelt.
Beautiful post, Ella Rose! Your writing is lovely, and this is such an inspiring reminder.💗
Thank you Annabelle!!
Wow, Ella Em! Great post! Very powerful. 🤗
Thanks, sis!
This is a beautiful post. I haven’t been to the ocean in over a decade (we’re more of mountain kinda people), but this makes me want to go back. I’m glad you found such a beautiful, restful experience in the ocean!❤
Thank you so much!! I guess it’s further away from some people than others, too. 😄🌊