Delight

This is one of those weekends when I feel so lucky to live in Florida. Friday I drove to the beach -- Daytona Beach actually. I sat up in the hotel room while my friend took the kids down to the pool and I handwrote my sermon to the beautiful sound of the Atlantic Ocean right outside my window. The next morning I woke up early to take my kids to their cheerleading competition just down the street. Teams had come from other states to compete on the beach but I just drove three hours for the luxury. The kids had fun, though it wasn't their best. They placed 7th out of 10 but they took it better than I did, reminding me that it's only cheerleading, not a life or death situation. Besides, they wanted to finish so they could go to the beach! My youngest and I spent about an hour out there on the surf and she giggled every time a wave came. I had forgotten what sheer delight comes from just enjoying a day at the beach. My oldest waded in a bit deeper and jumped waves with her friend for hours, washing off the sunscreen and turning a nice shade of pink. My oldest spent another night with her friend and mom, but my youngest and I traveled back home, this time up the coast, stopping for an exciting meal at IHOP (she couldn't imagine a better restaurant!) When we finally got home, my friend had cleaned my house and it smelled so good and clean. I took some time to bake a birthday cake for my youngest's birthday party. The party was today. So after church, we set up a fun water party in the backyard -- a slip n slide, water balloons, and other basic fun games. But it was cooler today. By the time the kids came, they'd slip and slide, throw some water balloons, then bundle up to get warm and get back at it. It was awesome -- 10 kids between the ages of 4 and 9 laughing and playing togther and sharing and singing and creating and just being kids. Despite the mess (which wasn't too bad except for the water balloons all over my backyard), I couldn't help but just enjoy the fact that they were filled with delight this weekend -- all of them -- and it filled me with the same emotion. Sometimes it's good to take lessons from kids. (Aside: I got all Martha Stewart today too -- I made sugar cookies in the shape of fish from scratch and then decorated them with homemade icing. They turned out beautiful. That was the take home gift and they were all so impressed!)

So that's the news from Arbuckle Creek, where the sun shines bright while the kids squeal with delight, where the kids have no idea what rush hour is, and where the gators avoid the backyard parties when there are too many kids.