FYI

Sand gnats bite.
Sand gnat bites are much itchier than mosquito bites.  (This can be verified by Wikipedia.)
Benadryl spray is very sticky (at least if it is expired).
I will use DEET the next time I watch the sun rise at the beach.

Sunrise at Wrightsville Beach

A quick shot of the clock before we leave the apartment

(That's a.m.)

Lots of jellyfish on the beach

To me, the sound of the waves just adds something!

Can you see Fleece?

An empty beach

A little different perspective

Getting higher

The one drawback to the whole experience was the huge gnat population.  Due to the fact that they seemed to want to eat us alive, this is how I spent a good part of the morning.

Jennifer takes up her bed and walks as we seek a less "gnatty" place.

Supper on the water

Our egret friend catches himself some supper

Lunch at IndoChine

My soup

Jennifer's meal

Remembering

Yesterday after the Special Meeting at Wilmington, Jennifer and I decided to go back to the beach since we had such a relaxation tool at our disposal.  As I walked along the shoreline, my thoughts were centered on Kendra and her family.  It seemed like a fitting place to remember and think and pray.  Kendra loved the beach, and I think she would have liked knowing that I was thinking of her and those that she loved there.  There's nothing like the ocean to make you feel small and insignificant and awestruck at the One who spoke it into being and still has it under His control.

Kendra

Shortly after waking up yesterday morning, I learned that my good friend, Kendra Whittington, had passed from time into eternity.  There's so much I could say, but somehow I can't find the words.  She was an inspiration to me and to many others.  She loved life and gave herself to the things that caused her life to be very rich.  She didn't have long here on this earth, but she used the time she had in a way that takes away all regret.  I'm glad for the memories I have of Kendra and would like for those memories to spur me onward in the path of never-ending life.

God gave us life

And we entered the world as a tiny baby

Helpless and innocent and full of potential

We grew

And life got bigger

And harder

And more beautiful

And at some point we realized that life was not just something that
       someone else chose for us

But something that we choose ourselves

It is a gift

But to keep it we must fight

And give ourselves to it

And take care of it

And love it

Life is a miracle

A mystery

A treasure

A wonder

A joy

And so we choose to fight

But life’s not just about living and breathing and being

Because this life is temporary

The God who gave it to us has planned that it would be that way

So we wonder

What’s the purpose

The purpose of life is deeper life

Not life in the body but life in the spirit

Life lived unto the Giver of life

Life consecrated to the will of God

Life filled with power to do the impossible

Life spent in willing and unselfish service to the Master and our fellow man

Life that is unending

And that life too is a gift

And to keep it we must fight

And give ourselves to it

And take care of it

And love it

That life is the greatest miracle

The greatest mystery

The greatest treasure

The greatest wonder

The greatest joy

And so we choose to fight

So that nothing will take away that life from us

Because that life is everything

And when that life is in us

Death cannot take it from us

It is ours forever

And we will be glad for all eternity

That we fought for life

I'm so glad that Kendra fought for life!

Thoughts from Wilmington Special Meeting

• If we're faithful, then we're useful.
• God called Abraham to give him a land.  God's calling to us is also with a purpose.
• When a carpenter begins, he learns to use a rule, a square, a level.  He never gets so good at what he does that he leaves those instruments at home.  He continues to use the same standard.
• Don't squander opportunities to lay up treasure in heaven.