run. pray. - God's Magical Little Sprinkles
The Friday morning following Thanksgiving, I was lucky enough to wake up oceanside at Folly Beach. My husband's family, well most of the family, made a trip to Folly for Thanksgiving this year. It was something really magical and special for so many reasons. My sister-in-law also made the trip. Jenny has POTS (Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), Ehler's Danlos syndrome, and a wealth of other health concerns, so traveling anywhere outside of her home is tricky. But, she's been working so hard and by God's love and grace, she made it to and from Folly Beach without an ER visit. So, that all in of itself was magical.
Back to waking up Friday morning. I decided to go for a run. I haven't been running regularly or really even exercising regularly for over a month now. Physical exercise has really been putting my back and hips into some pain, and I've been struggling with fatigue. I blame it on the endometriosis. But, anyway, I woke up that Friday morning with a yearning to run. It could've been the guilt talking from eating all that Thanksgiving food or just an excuse to explore the beach, but regardless, I really wanted to get out there and run. So, I laced up, stretched, and went on my journey.
I didn't really have a plan or a goal to reach. I just wanted to run on the beach and get back before the tide came in. My legs took toward the Folly Beach Pier. I knew it was about 3 miles to the pier one way, so I decided to see how close I could get to it before my body told me to turn around. I made it 2 miles down the beach keeping my pace around 9:30 minute miles which I was happy with considering my lack of effort over the past month. Mile three was against the wind and S-L-O-W. Around 3.5 miles, I decide to pop a squat on the bottom step of a public entrance and just stare at the rising sun out on the horizon. No one was around just me and the ocean.
Observing the waves flowing in and out, I contemplated how calm and peaceful the water out on the horizon looked - so far removed from the crazy reality that is the world these days. However, I wasn't fooled by it. Waves were wildly crashing to shore on this breezy morning, so I knew though it appeared calm and peaceful from afar, if I were out there in the middle of it, I'd have different thoughts. I knew if I were out there in the free ocean I'd be longing for the calmness and safety of the shore. Funny how we so frequently want the opposite of what we usually have at any given moment. As humans, we conveniently lose sight of how fortunate we are to be sitting in safety until the crashing waves get too close. Then, we remember the battle we had to fight to get here in this moment. Life is constant like the ocean. With a calm and meditative heart, I finished my last half mile at a much quicker pace than the one before. I felt alive and lighter as I hit the stop button on my watch. It was a magical feeling.
After breakfast, another short stroll on the beach with my husband and mother-in-law, a nap, and a shower, Matt & I ventured to a preservation area on the island. There's an old lighthouse that's being restored, some washed up trees, and a lot of graffiti. The graffiti is oddly beautiful to me against the mundane colors of the sand and driftwood looking trees. As we explored, we walked back toward the marshland. We bumped into a guy with a mesh net. He was really excited and pointed out a tree loaded with Monarch butterflies. We looked over and saw hundreds of them in this one tree. As we walked around, we found at least a half-dozen trees covered with napping Monarchs. It was a sight to behold. This man was out tagging the butterflies and had found one which had migrated from Ontario, Canada! These Monarchs were a divine sighting. Again, something really magical.
Since arriving home, I've read up on Monarch butterflies. Their average lifespan is six to eight months, and they can make journeys up to 3,000 miles. Talking about getting the most out of life! I've also learned that the Monarch population east of the Rocky Mountains is drastically declining due to insecticides being sprayed on milkweed and due to genetically modified seeds. Monarch butterflies lay eggs on milkweed and their larvae eat it nearly exclusively. So, for us to see these many Monarchs really was an experience of divine proportions.
God's magic is all around us. We're surrounded by it, and we often ignore it on a day to day basis. Gifts are sent to us in so many ways. Sometimes, it's a gift of travel. Maybe the trip wasn't all we envisioned it to be, and maybe we were disappointed by the lack of interaction or dazzle it involved. But, sometimes, the journey to get there and back is the gift. To prove to us who is in control.
Other times God's magic comes to us by getting us out in nature and exploring God's beautiful canvas. Sometimes, it's the yearning you feel in your core to get out and run-even though you know your hips will hurt for days. Sometimes, it's the pure gift of movement we're given. Yea, it hurts. But, I'm able.
And, sometimes, God's magic comes in ways we least expect it. Sometimes, it's an accidental discovery of something alluring. Something so fragile and alluring that its life is fleeting with every passing second-just like my own. When God surrounds you with hundreds of breathtaking butterflies while exploring an island with the love of your life, you pause and you inhale the biggest, most extraordinary breath of life, and you hold it in your lungs. Then, you simply close your eyes and ever so slowly exhale thanking God for the divine magic of life.
Back to waking up Friday morning. I decided to go for a run. I haven't been running regularly or really even exercising regularly for over a month now. Physical exercise has really been putting my back and hips into some pain, and I've been struggling with fatigue. I blame it on the endometriosis. But, anyway, I woke up that Friday morning with a yearning to run. It could've been the guilt talking from eating all that Thanksgiving food or just an excuse to explore the beach, but regardless, I really wanted to get out there and run. So, I laced up, stretched, and went on my journey.
I didn't really have a plan or a goal to reach. I just wanted to run on the beach and get back before the tide came in. My legs took toward the Folly Beach Pier. I knew it was about 3 miles to the pier one way, so I decided to see how close I could get to it before my body told me to turn around. I made it 2 miles down the beach keeping my pace around 9:30 minute miles which I was happy with considering my lack of effort over the past month. Mile three was against the wind and S-L-O-W. Around 3.5 miles, I decide to pop a squat on the bottom step of a public entrance and just stare at the rising sun out on the horizon. No one was around just me and the ocean.
Observing the waves flowing in and out, I contemplated how calm and peaceful the water out on the horizon looked - so far removed from the crazy reality that is the world these days. However, I wasn't fooled by it. Waves were wildly crashing to shore on this breezy morning, so I knew though it appeared calm and peaceful from afar, if I were out there in the middle of it, I'd have different thoughts. I knew if I were out there in the free ocean I'd be longing for the calmness and safety of the shore. Funny how we so frequently want the opposite of what we usually have at any given moment. As humans, we conveniently lose sight of how fortunate we are to be sitting in safety until the crashing waves get too close. Then, we remember the battle we had to fight to get here in this moment. Life is constant like the ocean. With a calm and meditative heart, I finished my last half mile at a much quicker pace than the one before. I felt alive and lighter as I hit the stop button on my watch. It was a magical feeling.
After breakfast, another short stroll on the beach with my husband and mother-in-law, a nap, and a shower, Matt & I ventured to a preservation area on the island. There's an old lighthouse that's being restored, some washed up trees, and a lot of graffiti. The graffiti is oddly beautiful to me against the mundane colors of the sand and driftwood looking trees. As we explored, we walked back toward the marshland. We bumped into a guy with a mesh net. He was really excited and pointed out a tree loaded with Monarch butterflies. We looked over and saw hundreds of them in this one tree. As we walked around, we found at least a half-dozen trees covered with napping Monarchs. It was a sight to behold. This man was out tagging the butterflies and had found one which had migrated from Ontario, Canada! These Monarchs were a divine sighting. Again, something really magical.
Since arriving home, I've read up on Monarch butterflies. Their average lifespan is six to eight months, and they can make journeys up to 3,000 miles. Talking about getting the most out of life! I've also learned that the Monarch population east of the Rocky Mountains is drastically declining due to insecticides being sprayed on milkweed and due to genetically modified seeds. Monarch butterflies lay eggs on milkweed and their larvae eat it nearly exclusively. So, for us to see these many Monarchs really was an experience of divine proportions.
God's magic is all around us. We're surrounded by it, and we often ignore it on a day to day basis. Gifts are sent to us in so many ways. Sometimes, it's a gift of travel. Maybe the trip wasn't all we envisioned it to be, and maybe we were disappointed by the lack of interaction or dazzle it involved. But, sometimes, the journey to get there and back is the gift. To prove to us who is in control.
Other times God's magic comes to us by getting us out in nature and exploring God's beautiful canvas. Sometimes, it's the yearning you feel in your core to get out and run-even though you know your hips will hurt for days. Sometimes, it's the pure gift of movement we're given. Yea, it hurts. But, I'm able.
And, sometimes, God's magic comes in ways we least expect it. Sometimes, it's an accidental discovery of something alluring. Something so fragile and alluring that its life is fleeting with every passing second-just like my own. When God surrounds you with hundreds of breathtaking butterflies while exploring an island with the love of your life, you pause and you inhale the biggest, most extraordinary breath of life, and you hold it in your lungs. Then, you simply close your eyes and ever so slowly exhale thanking God for the divine magic of life.
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