"Nevertheless"

    Sitting alone in the damp sand and waiting in the velvety darkness as the dawn begins to glimmer over the ocean,  I watch the little birds hopping and fluttering and listen to the sounds as the waves caress the shoreline. I've been praying for a miracle and for peace.  I've been hanging close to God's ear and pouring out the torment and grief that have beleaguered me for a year. It feels like there is no end to the crushing weight on my heart and soul.   The tears never stop and the heartache is unceasing. I've come to this edge of the world ocean side for a getaway, and for a get with God time that I so sorely need. The waves lap at the shore and the wind flows over me and whispers "peace".  But peace has not come.   It feels out of my arm's reach, too distant and elusive to grab hold. It's the last day of what has been the hardest year of my life.  Ups and downs,  betrayal, divorce, new birth and new beginnings.  Each eve...

In the last few months, there have been so many people that have passed from this life to the next due to accident or illness, it is difficult to take it all in and process it mentally or emotionally.     Everyone I know has lost someone. We ask why.  We attempt to reason it out.  We can't make any sense of it. But me?  Although I am truly sorrowful they have passed, and my heart has been broken for those I love, I am a bit envious. Because. "Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Co 15: 55 KJV) Once I was lost, now I am found.  Because of Jesus. Before Him, I had no hope.  No joy.  No knowledge of immortality.  No enormous excitement in anticipation of eternity. No understanding of who I am or who He is. I love to travel.  I love to meet new people, see and experience varied cultures, experience the beauty of this world and its people. In my heart and spirit, I am a great adventurer, a warrior against evi...