Our AWESOME vacation!

It dawned on me today that the word "awesome" is overused, and has lost some of its meaning. Dictionarydotcom defines it as "inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear." In my world, TV shows and football game scores (even my beloved Michigan!) do not meet that definition. Once in awhile an extremely talented performer can inspire such feelings, but mostly I am inspired by God's natural world and by people doing profound things.

We recently returned from our vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, where we shared a beach house with my older son Matt and his family. I have been savoring the events of those days, and have put them in some perspective that I want to share, most especially the experiences I had that I can say were truly awesome...

The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides.

          ~Jules Verne 

Living in central Indiana, the largest body of water is a local reservoir. We have to travel over 3 hours to see Lake Michigan. Despite having seen it many times, I never fail to be awestruck by the ocean. The tides, the power of the waves, the beauty of it get me every time. Here is the first view we had of it when we headed to the beach for the first time:

Our fantastic civilization has fallen out of touch with many aspects of nature, and with none more completely than with night."
          ~Henry Beston, The Outermost House - 1933

The Outer Banks are pretty isolated from the rest of civilization. There are a couple towns, but most of this area is a National Wildlife Preserve with no buildings or lights. That means that on a clear night, you can see stars normally unseen. The skies open up to a vastness that exceeds even the ocean. Lanny and I stopped one evening on our way home from an ice cream run and just got out of the car and looked up. We saw the Milky Way and dozens of constellations. We saw several shooting stars. We saw satellites blinking by overhead. We stood for what seemed like forever under the canopy of all this and just stopped and looked. We were awestruck.

Two things inspire me to awe -- the starry heavens above and the moral
universe within.
           ~Albert Einstein 

Spending time with my son and his family was such a joy. The time was way more relaxed and unrushed than usual. We had a chance to not only interact with them as a family and individually, but to share in day-to-day vacation events. One of these was a swimming lesson in the backyard pool with Mom and Dad helping each of the boys. William, at 18 months, is one of those gung-ho kids who isn't afraid of much and who just charges ahead. He loves both the ocean and the pool and jumps into the pool with Mom or Dad without hesitation. His exuberance is a joy to behold, but also a little scary for the adults. We had to watch him like a hawk! Samuel, age almost 3, is totally different. He is thoughtful and tentative, and had to ease into new experiences over time and exposure. I could relate to this because it was exactly how his father was as a child. Sam was fearful in the pool, but he was also still 2 and had a big dose of "ME DO IT!" coursing through his veins. He was clearly wanting very much to just jump in, but his fearful side made him hesitant. Watching this little boy over time conquer his fear, listen and trust his parents that they would keep him safe and support him in the water, and finally watch him kicking and floating on his own almost brought me to tears.  How many people have I known who have conquered their own fears and moved forward to something wonderful? Maybe even me? To see a child of 2 doing it, knowing the internal struggle that was going on, was awe-inspiring indeed...

That's Will with Daddy and Sam with Mommy...

So, when I say we had an AWESOME vacation, this is what I will remember!!!


One last bit of awesomeness to share... sunrise on the Outer Banks....