Of
all the days of your life, which ones do you remember? I have many days that I can recall bits and
pieces from but I have only a handful of entire days that were truly memorable
from start to finish. One of those times
occurred in July of 1994. My husband and
I, along with some of our children traveled down the coast of Washington
state to a campground near the town of Ilwaco Pacific
Ocean beach. We also
arranged to go ocean fishing the next day.
Before
sunrise the next morning we drove to Ilwaco and boarded the charter fishing
boat. Once aboard, my four year old
daughter, Rachel and I sat inside but my husband, John and our sons, Carl and
Erik perched outside near the front of the boat as we made our way past the
mouth of the Columbia River . The water was very, very bumpy and we all
began to wonder if we would be able to last throughout the entire day! But, we soon passed over that area where
hundreds of early ships had lost their battles and, with relative ease, we
launched into the great unknown - the great Pacific!
As
the fishing boat went a short way out to sea, a school of dolphins leaped
through the water along side the boat.
Birds swished by and the sun slowly burned off the light fog that
encompassed us. Finally we were at our
destination and the boys let out their lines.
I don’t remember what was caught exactly but I do remember someone on
the boat caught a small shark and another person caught a skate. All of it was very unusual and exciting.
After
we got back to shore and took our catch to the trailer to eat, we slipped back
to the same beach from the night before and built sandcastles. Shortly before sunset, we raced to the end of
the beach and climbed a short ridge to the base of the lighthouse that guards
the harbor at Ilwaco. When we got to the
top, a blazing sunset was forming to the West across the Pacific. We stood on the steps of the lighthouse and sang
songs about sunsets. I know that it
sounds kind of corny but as I write this, it is hard to express what a truly
magical time that was. I have rarely
felt so at peace and full of joy.
The
sun was down and we realized to our dismay that we didn’t have a flashlight or
any way to see our way back to our little home away from home. Reluctantly, I followed the kids and John
through a very dark path in the woods. Night was quickly upon us so we kind of
half felt/half stumbled our way along.
At one point in the impeding darkness John whispered, “Quiet! Look there!”
Through the trees we could barely make out the shapes of a herd of deer
standing watching us.
Finally, we made it to the small camp road
and I knew that we were only a block or two from our campsite. As we began to walk, my son, Carl, who at
fifteen was now taller than I, reached back and grabbed my hand. For a few minutes we held hands as we walked
and talked in the darkness. I remember
thinking that I needed to consciously cherish this time because he was fast
becoming a man.
We
continued walking until we found our trailer.
We climbed into our beds and the children quickly fell asleep. In the few minutes before I too shut my eyes,
I remember thinking that it had been one of the best days of my life. And so it was….
Jesus
says, “I have come that they may have life, and that more abundantly.” John 10:10.
Have a good day! Love, Sue
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