Friday, February 27, 2015

Our Last Walk on South Padre Island

 As I type this, it's just after midnight.
 Everyone else is asleep in the 2 rooms we have at
the Holiday Inn Express Hotel
 in Marble Falls, Texas.
 
Just 18 hours ago, we had our last walk on the beach.
Tears fill my eyes as I type that.
 
In these past 3 months on the beach,
my very favorite thing was walking on the beach
with my 10 year old daughter.
I have a lot of favorite things about our stay,
but this is the most special to me.
We are on our way home to Minnesota.
 
 Almost every day for the past 3 months, just like this morning,
we'd get up before the crack of dawn,
go to the patio, feel what the weather was going to be like,
look at this beautiful view calling to us to enjoy even closer.
 We sneak out quietly, making sure not to wake anyone,
head to the elevator, hug and say "Good Morning!"
 
(that's me, my daughter took this picture) 
We walk through the patio area and say "Good Morning!" or "Buenos Dios!"
to the maintenance men working on the pool already.
 We walk down the boardwalk and are stopped by God's gift for us.
His painted sky, as if He painted it just for us.
We thank God for the day and
all the beauty and blessings He has for us.
(and we take a few pictures)
I love the ocean because I can't help but think of
God's AWESOMENESS!!
It's so vast and amazing.
We are so small, yet He loves us.
It probably sounds funny to say this,
but I feel humble when I'm at the beach.
 
God is everything.
 

 Hello Sun!
Hello beautiful waves!





 
We are on our way home now...but we turn around one more time,
trying to make this vision last forever in our hearts and minds.
 We take a few more pictures
 I can't explain how very Thankful and blessed I feel to have had this opportunity
to live here on the beach for the last 3 months.
My heart yearns already to go back.
It's like the waves are calling me back.
It is like I'm home when I'm there.
My new friend JC said something similar,
 how while driving across the bridge
to South Padre Island, she gets that feeling of "I'm home!"
 
It's silly to have tears as I type this.
Really it is. 
There is awesomeness in every day of all of our lives.
 
I'm looking forward to writing more about our time at the beach.
Not to make anyone jealous, but to share the beauty and the blessings
of life on the beach.
 
 

11 comments:

  1. I teared up reading this. I am so happy that you got to spend the past months in a place that helped you see God's awesomeness every single day. No jealousy, just joy for you and your family!

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  2. Brought tears to my eyes, Jamie. I'm so thankful you got to spend time on this beach we love so much, and you are right: what an amazing place to encounter God. I'm so blessed to have finally gotten to meet you and your beautiful family. Oh, how I hope you all will be back! Safe travels and Godspeed, friend!

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  3. Thank you for that last little video. I have tinnitus, but I can't hear anything but the waves when I listen -- God's sounds. I don't think anyone could ever begrudge that time spent in such a beautiful place. Prayers to St. Christopher for safe travels.

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  4. Safe travels! So glad you guys had a good time there enjoying God's beauty. That is where I love to encounter God also..in nature. My heart is moved at mass...but nature and His world ..oh and these people in my life..my babies are my blessings. Count them everyday. We are so blessed!

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  5. Soooo filled with love as I read this, Jamie!
    I love that you had this amazing time in your lives together.
    I love the beauty of God shared with us through your words and photos.
    And I love that last picture of you...an amazing wife, mother, Catholic, and friend...
    Safe travels...
    Cannot wait to hear and see more about this wonderful time in your lives!!!!!!!!!!

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  6. So happy that you had this opportunity! God has provided us with a beautiful world to enjoy; it's a blessing to be able to have a special time to be out in it. I love walking on the beach on the rare chances that I get to do so. Take care going home-it's snowing in our part of Texas today! Praying for a safe journey for you all.

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  7. It's not at ALL silly to have tears. Not at ALL. Yes, the awesomeness of God is everywhere, every day... but sometimes and in some places, we can see and touch it more clearly. As if a kind of veil is removed, and these amazing photos pull back the "veil" for me even as I just look at them onscreen. And I remember beach living of my own, island living of my own... in my case for only a few weeks at a time. The sense of God's majesty is so present in the sounds and scents and winds of the sea. The bridge to "my" little island (Bogue Banks NC) has always made feel at home when we go over it also. And I have cried (quite literally, I've WEPT) crossing over it to come back home. Thank you for sharing this truly blessed time with all of us.

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  8. Those images are just magnificent, Jamie Jo! What an absolutely amazing three months you have had. So happy that your family was able to take that trip!!

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  9. These are such beautiful pictures. I can tell how much this winter on Padre Island has meant to yo and your family. Such wonderful memories! Now - a whole new future awaits you all! Be sure to let me know when you get here to Phoenix so we can "meet up." Have a great week.

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  10. Lol, we live just a mile or so from Laguna Beach in CA and never once have I been there. I guess life gets so busy around here that we forget to stop and enjoy the gifts around us.

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