“The Grossman’s Beach Adventure”
July 20, 2008
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.”
Psalm 19: 1-8
Jesus said, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.” Mark 6:31-32
Why is it that when we relax – sometimes we feel guilty? Maybe it is that there is always so much to do. Maybe it is that there are so many needs out there. Maybe it is that we think our world just couldn’t function properly without us. We’ve got to keep things moving. We got to keep the plates spinning. It helps that even Jesus needed to get away occasionally to a quiet place to rest. I got to do that this past week with my family. Our experience was described as ‘AWESOME!’ ‘FANTASTIC!’ ‘WONDERFUL’ ‘NEEDED!’
I could use all those words to describe how I felt about it. Julie and I, our son and daughter, and all our grandkids, rented a house, near Brookings, Oregon, within walking distance of the beach. We began each day with devotions and prayer and then each one shared what they would like to do for the day. We called it our “Family Forum”. It was really very cool. And God was so good to us. He blessed us with great weather. Each day was hot and clear until the very last day when we began to pack. Then the fog and cool air rolled in. The fires delayed us a little on the drive home. But it was like each day was a special blessing from God. I want to share some of that vacation with you. Hopefully God has some lessons or encouragement or something for each of us this morning.
I began this message with the beginning of Psalm 19 because God’s creation really does declare the glory of God. From the beautiful ocean, to the sunsets, to the joy on the children’s faces, it all glorified God to me. It made me desire to draw closer to our magnificent Lord.
I’ve divided our vacation into four points. The 1. Babes, 2. The Beach, 3. The Boscage, and 4. The Bomb.
First, the Babes. Our happy little group consisted of all of our grandkids. Our five, Cheyenne, Cassidy, Breauna, Caleb, Nate and our adopted granddaughter, Chelsea. There was both of our kids, Monica and Ben, and Ben’s fiancé’ Rachel, and Julie and I.
One of high points of the trip for me was to see the joy on the kid’s faces as they played in the surf and built sand castles on the beach and discovered ‘things’ in the tide pools. As you look at the pictures – notice the joy on each face.
Monica had the most fun of us adults and loved our vacation at the beach. She said she needed the rest, too. Julie and I need the rest and relaxation more than anything. Julie has been working so hard and so long on her Dad’s house, often getting only a couple hours of sleep at night, that she just need to get away and relax without an agenda. And did you notice she looked a lot different returning home? She did find time to get her hair done.
Those are our ‘babes’. This is our family. I want to encourage you to work on your family. If you don’t do it – who will? I had a choice to make each and every day. Should I just relax and let whatever comes – come? Or should I provide a little leadership? I chose the later. I say that to let you men know that a little word here – and suggestion there – means a lot to your family. My family appreciates me giving a little gentle leadership. One morning I decided not to go to the beach. I was just going to stay home and read a western paperback – but everyone was just milling around – waiting for some direction. I put my book down, and said “Let’s go!” Everyone jumped into the cars and off we went.
You men would be surprised at how eager our families are to follow if we will just provide a little leadership. In single parent families – it may be up to the mom – but, for heaven’s sake!, somebody lead our families. Make devotions happen. Make church happen. Make Bible study happen. Our babes need it.
2. The Beach. The beach was wonderful. We only had to cross the street and walk a hundred yards to get to a parking lot of a beach. Each day was wonderful. Each day was warm, the water was cold, the air was clear. The kids had fun trying to body surf in the cold water. It was more like jumping up and down in the surf. The built sand castles, got buried in the sand, and made their own adventure.
Here’s a picture of Nate on the “path to nowhere”. Somebody apparently had a rake and walked along the beach dragging it. Nate saw it as a little road just for him. He followed it around every twist and turn. But it didn’t lead anywhere.
Have you ever done that? Are you on a path that leads to nowhere? Occasionally we need to step back and assess and evaluate where we are headed. If we continue on this path – where will it lead us? If we don’t like the end result – we better do something. I don’t know what that means for you. For some it may mean a job change. For some it may mean to change something in our personality. Some may need to make a relationship change. Sometimes we get into a pattern of doing the same thing over and over – and we expect a different result. Someone defined insanity as that. “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. That’s crazy! Evaluate your life – and then make the necessary changes that will lead to different results. Results you will be happier with.
Here’s a picture of Nate with a sea weed whip. It’s a cool picture of a child taking some garbage that no one looks twice at and making a neat toy. Attitude is everything isn’t it? Do you see garbage or gold? Do you see junk or jewelry? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Choose to see the excellent and the praiseworthy in everything. Life will be so much better if you do.
This next picture is of Breauna on a rock. Notice how high up she is. Then notice her surprise as she just about gets washed off by a high wave. The lesson from this is “Life comes at you fast – be prepared!”
Jesus said,
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Matthew 24:42-44
Are you ready? Are you prepared? Are you living each day as it may be the day that the Lord will come? Life comes at us fast. If you are anchored in the solid Rock of Jesus – you can withstand any wave life throws at you. You can withstand any storm. But you need to be anchored BEFORE the storm hits. Many people can look out on the horizon and see a storm coming. Rising gas prices, lower real estate prices, increase in wickedness, less compassion, greater selfishness, less family unity. All these things indicate that a storm is coming. Are you ready? Get solidly anchored in Jesus or you will be swept away!
Another fun thing we did at the beach was to beach comb and explore tidal pools. We found sea shells and star fish and little sand crabs. The kids loved it! It reminds me of what Tom Hanks’ character in ‘Castaway’ said, “Wait for the tide. You never know what the tide will bring in!” We were hoping for some glass balls or gold doubloons’ or big sea shells. What we got was happiness and joy and love. I think that was even better.
Maybe there’s a lesson there. Don’t get so busy and stressed out for the imaginary riches – that you miss the real thing. Jesus said,
“Seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and HIS righteousness – and all these other things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
The key is seeking God first. Seeking God before wealth, security, comfort – even love. Seek God first. Seek to be right with Him first. The rest of your desires will come after that.
3. The Boscage. I would venture to guess that nearly all of you are thinking “What in the world is THAT!” Well, I needed a ‘B’ and that was the best I could do. Here’s a new word for you. Boscage or Boskage. The dictionary defines boscage as “a mass of trees or shrubs; wood, grove or thicket.” In our case it was a grove of redwood trees. Near where we stayed was the largest cypress tree in the world and the coastal redwoods are the tallest trees in the world. So it was pretty neat to take a little family hike among the redwoods. Nestled well below them were cedar, hardwood, pine and an assortment of lesser trees. Growing among them were lots of ferns, beautiful rhododendron plants and panther lilies. The redwoods grow tall as they seek the sun. They can withstand fire and storm as long as they stick together. Redwoods have a shallow root system for so large of a tree – but they inner twine their roots and gain strength from one another.
Kind of like us, huh? God told Adam, “It’s not good for man to be alone.” The wisest man who ever lived said,
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecc 4:9-12
Jesus told the story of a lost sheep. A singe sheep is vulnerable. A Christian alone is vulnerable. Satan likes nothing better than to get you off by yourself, away from the church, away from your Church family, away from help and encouragement. You will begin to feel alone and resentful and angry. You were not created to live alone. Your strength, like the redwood comes from unity and from seeking the Son. Seek the Son – first. Seek unity in the family second.
Lastly, The Bomb. How many of you knew that the continental United States was bombed during World War Two? I didn’t know much about it. Apparently, Japanese submarines, carrying small planes, had a mission, in retaliation for Doolittle’s raid, to bomb the redwood forest along the coast, setting them on fire in hopes of the U. S. expending money, resources and man power in putting them out.
God protected us again. Only one bomber made it through. And instead of a dry September – it was wet and the bombs didn’t ignite the forest as planned. Later, the pilot of that bomber was invited to come to Brookings in a ceremony of peace and goodwill. He was made an honorary citizen and presented the city with his family’s 400 year old Samurai sword.
Do you know that when the enemy bombs you – God will protect you? Like Job, God will put a hedge of protection around you, too. What the enemy means for evil – God will make into good. He has done it many times – as recorded in the pages of the bible – and He will do it for you, too.
Every morning, the Grossman’s gathered around in a circle of prayer and I prayed for God’s blessing on us. I prayed for protection and I prayed for blessings of love and joy. God answered those prayers. On Sunday we found a Nazarene Church and worshipped with brothers and sisters we had never met before.
God longs for you to worship Him. He longs to answer your prayers, too. Will you put Him first in all you do? Seek Him first. Begin your day with prayer and bible reading. Commit your way to Him every day. And each day in many ways – He will speak to you and guide you.
