Simple Sunday – {Summer Sunsets and Living in the Moment}

 The other night I took my kids to the beach. We sat in the sand and jumped over waves and ultimately waited for the sun to set. It took only a few hours, not long at all. We did the same thing last year. We threw away our bedtime routine and we ignored the hands on the clock that revealed bed time. We simply ignored time and light and only anticipated the sky and what the Creator would do with it before us.

While we waited, snuggled on a wet towel, with cold skin and the warm last rays of a summers day warming us. I prayed.

I thanked the God that made the sky and the clouds and the sand and the beauty all around. I thanked Him for the little family sitting close to me and I thanked Him for the simple spinning of nature and beauty around us.

I knew when the sun started dipping beyond the horizon that this moment would be the one I would wish for in a few months when the leaves would change their colours and sitting in the sand would be a distant memory.

In that moment, I held the little hands around me and asked them what they liked most about our evening on the beach. My little girl, in her purity and sweetness, looked at me with her beautiful round eyes and said, “I love that God likes pink.”

I thought about her words, mused them over while I waited for her to elaborate.

 “…He uses pink ever night in the summa’. I love that.”

Her brother and I looked at each other as our eyes mirrored her own. Big and wide.

She was right. She was totally right. God loves pink and He loves to paint the sky each night –for us. And we are so so lucky.

He does so much for us. So much that we miss because we are too busy paying bills, cleaning the house, and scheduling time to relax. The irony! If we slowed down we would be able to appreciate all that He does for us and all that He wants to do. If we threw away our agenda Im sure we would notice so much more. We would see how we are blessed with breath and life and laughter. If we only allowed ourselves to enjoy those things.

I am learning to slow down more. My whole family is. Together we are trying to notice the small things, to be filled with gratitude and to see the beauty that is everywhere. This summer is slipping away. Right before us in the sunsets, and those first fallen leaves and with the changing temperatures. I want to remember all of it.

Summer of 2013 is coming to an end and I want to feel like I held on to each fleeting moment and sunset, but most of all I want to be thankful for those moments. Thankful for life; but more than that, thankful to the God that gives life and sunsets and little girls that marvel at pink skies.

Today I am so thankful.