Has anyone ever asked you to
close your eyes & go to your
close your eyes & go to your
Happy Place?
Well, I have. I don't know about you, but usually when I'm asked that question I go blank. It seems all my creativity goes out the window. I envy those people who can just imagine away just off their top of their heads.
During Memorial Day weekend & the following week, my Mother & I had the privilege to go to St. Augustine Beach for a few days. We had planned to go to a cheap hotel, but God blessed us with a condo on the beach at the last minute. It was not just any condo. This condo was a special place. A dear friend of theirs had blessed my parents & the extended family with the use of it for many years. We knew the last time our family stayed there was going to be our last trip which was several years ago. This trip was a spur of the moment thing for my Mother & I, & for this to be available & given to us really blew us away. It was a sweet gift from the Lord.
It felt so good to get away after dealing with my Dad's death in Jan, & then 4 months of preparing for the RDH Boards. We had a great time shopping, eating a lot of fried shrimp with the heavenly sauce on the side, & many walks on the beach. One of our most favorite things we like to do is have coffee on the porch. The condo is on the third floor which overlooked the beautiful pool & ocean waves. It is a little slice of heaven. It's great to watch the sunrises & beautiful sunsets. I must admit, I saw more sunsets than sunrises.
The first few days it drizzled some, which was OK because it kept the weather nice & cool. One morning it was just perfect. The sun was shining so bright & the air was crisp. So, it was time to lay out on the beach & tan our white bodies.
We have a dear friend who is so full of life & loves to spoil our family. Francis Hatcher gave Mother & me before we left on our trip, these precious pink & aqua monogrammed hats & bags so we would look like "classy beach bums." Well, I left my "stuff" at the pool because I didn't want to get anything sandy. Now, the chairs we had were the type where the legs were cut off so you're only a few inches off the ground. At Mother's suggestion, we were suppose to put the chairs at the edge of the waves, lay back & relax. Another slice of heaven.
All of a sudden I see my five foot Mother coming down to the beach in her cute matching bathing suit, hat, bag & chair, plus towels, etc... I don't know how she was managing all that "stuff". She then put all her "stuff" & her chair way back from the waters edge. She preceded to sit in the middle of the water. I then asked her, "Why aren't you putting your chair in the water like you suggested?" So, she then got up & moved her chair next to mine.
I hope you can picture this scene.
Here we are reclining in our short chairs. Mother decides she wanted someone to take a picture of us on the beach. Now, I wasn't about to have my picture taken. That is not something I wanted to capture for eternity. I was reclining in the chair with my arms out of the straps of my bathing suit. If I got up, my suit would fall off. Get that picture :-). Mother still wanted her picture taken. I took the camera from her so I could do as she had requested. In the meantime she decided to move her chair backwards. All of a sudden the chair folds up like an accordion, she falls backwards with all fours stuck up in the air like a "bug" while she is in the chair--laughing & calling out, "I can't get up, I can't get up."
Now me; I certainly can't get up out of my chair with the camera in hand & my bathing suit fixing to come off; so I do the next best thing. I start clicking away while dieing laughing at the same time. We did get help & we both got up. I laughed so hard I was crying.
Like I said earlier, we did have a good time, but we did miss the loss of my Dad, & Truffle; & missed my brother & his family who usually comes. It hit me one evening while drinking tea (on the porch of course), talking to Amy that this has been a happy place for me with many sweet memories.
It occurred to me while reading my Bible throughout the Summer that King David had a happy place. It was in the tabernacle of God. His great desire was to build God a beautiful temple for Him to dwell, like God needed a permanent place to dwell. God did grant him his request by allowing his son, Solomon to build the temple, but David had the joy in planning it. I can identity with David because I love to plan.
Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
