“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think…” Ephesians 3:20
A string of relationally intense activities had left me tired, withdrawn, and reflective. I was ready to fill the hours before we flew back to Denver by sleeping in, reading, and methodically sipping my cup of morning coffee. But not Mary.
The hours provided the perfect window for the opportunity she had been anticipating. After all, we were in San Diego and the beach was within eye shot.
Mary had done enough preliminary reconnaissance to know that a short drive north from our hotel would yield access to the carpet of sand that would escort us to the Pacific Ocean.
Morning broke and without overt complaint, I unenthusiastically complied.
Mary’s plan worked flawlessly, and within minutes our rental car was parked, our keys stashed, and our feet bare. The tide was up, so the entrance ramp to the salt water was short. The briskness of the sea reminded us that it was the end of September… but within a few minutes we were diving through the waves, and the chill, the ambivalence, the exhaustion, the excuses and the distractions were all a distant memory. Adventure had been the perfect medicine.
But adventure needed a salesman; or in this case, a woman. Mary.
She simply wasn’t about to be denied the experience. I’m quite certain that everything that had sounded good to me, sounded good to her. The quiet. The reflection. The rest. The coffee sipping… but Mary pressed into a vision for something that was unachievable in Denver. She pushed toward the Pacific. Toward the vastness. Toward the daunting and unpredictable grandeur of the monstrous Pacific.
Certainly, after 40 years of knowing Mary (37 as her husband), I know that adventure is one of her love languages. It’s not that she lives with discontent; it’s just that she lives with expectation. And in so many ways, her desire for the unknown and inexperienced exceeds mine.
And I’m so grateful.
The waves did what caffeine was incapable of. The salt water did what a morning shower was under-resourced to do. The breeze, the smell, the cold did so much more than enliven me; they ignited me… to the beauty and vastness of our Creator. The experience invited me to be an explorer in the expansive unknown of His creation and His wonder.
I felt His arms as I felt His waves. And I felt His love surrounding as the surf pounded. His love.
Yes to Mary, meant yes to more. Yes to adventure. Yes to what’s better.
Because He can provide so much more than I could ask or think.
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