Just returned this afternoon from a retreat put on by our denomination for all their ministers and spouses in our district. We went out to Ocean Shores, WA. The weather was for the most part very nice - a little cold is all, but that is to be expected at the end of September in Washington. 
Hubby and I walked the quarter mile or so from our hotel out to where the surf crested and crashed against the beautiful brown sand. But we didn’t stay out there too long because the wind was blowing really hard and it was chilly.
The trail leading from the hotel, first meandered through tall green bushes - Silal, Oregon Grape, and another larger bush that looked like an Azalea to this untrained eye, but had some sort of blueish-purple berries growing on it. We had to squeeze through some sections where the brush clutched at us from both sides and I was thankful it wasn’t Africa, but merely the Washington coast where nothing harmful would likely flop out onto the trail in front of me (or into my hair! <shudder!>). The path emerged from the tall brush into an expanse of hip-high grasses as the sand shifted beneath our feet. After the expanse of swaying grass, we climbed up one last dune and onto the flat wind-rippled plain of tan sand that extended out toward the white-crested crashing waves of the Pacific. Beautiful!
Our speaker was Jeff Lucas, a British fellow with a Chahming accent and a great message. One big thing that I took away was this. “Don’t confuse the people of God with God himself.” Isn’t that so true? We tend to look at other Christians and see God in them, which can be good. But, lets face it, sheep are stupid. And often make stupid mistakes. We can’t let the mistakes others make affect the way we view God!
Anyhow, it is nice to be home. But I hope the beginning of your week was as refreshing as mine.
I had a rare privilege a few days ago that I hope not to repeat too many times in my life. I had the distinct honor to be in the room as a Saint slipped into Glory. His family stood around his bed singing hymns and songs of praise and Griff slipped away from this temporal vapor into eternity as we sang “Majesty”. The tool that God gave him to use on this earth was left behind, but we know that Griff is abundantly worshiping his Father as his new life, one we can’t even imagine, has only just begun.
