Summertime lesson / Anytime application

Day on the Beach

What I thought was going to be another day on the beach with my kids turned out to be one of the most profound and practical lessons of my Christian life. Earlier that day I purchased a skim board for my daughters to play with along the shores shallow edge. While I was content to relax in my chair and enjoy a book, my children were determined to draw me into their adventure. They begged and pleaded for me to show them how to gracefully glide on a small board (with a 150lb weight limit) across an inch of water. It was a crowded beach in the peak of summer and I knew how this would play out. I just wasn't in the mood for making a fool out of myself as the clumbsy dad. "No" was my final answer. I wasn't prepared for what happened next. As my children turned away in disappointment, I felt the Spirit of God speak to me as I sat on the beach that afternoon. In that moment I saw more clearly than ever, the principle of the cross. There was an opportunity to resurrect a joy within my daughters but it meant that I would have to be willing to die to myself. I had a chance to usher in resurrection power into my relationship with my children but I would have to die to my pride, comfort, and agenda. God was calling me into the story of the cross through what seemed to be an insignificant event. In that moment I thought of the countless other times I had missed opportunities like this. ‘You don't want to die so that something within your daughters might live,’ is what I felt God speaking to me that day. I was led to repentance and into the story of the cross. We learned how to skim board that day. I fell many times and probably looked very silly but it was glorious. I was full of joy, uplifted with my girls, and a memory was created that will never be erased. Who knew that on a sandy beach during a summer vacation I would have a cross to bear? In speaking of the principle of the cross, the Apostle Paul said "So then death worketh in us, but life in you." 2 Corinthians 4:12 As the LORD blessed me to place Himself and my children before myself (death), His life filled our whole situation and blessed my daughters beyond measure.”