I heart red flag waves. Oh my. I went to Orange Beach this weekend with Julie, her brother Tim, and her fiance Will. We had such a great time. Julie has this great vacation philosophy that everyone does what their heart desires. Turn the music up loud while you have a dance party in the shower? Sure! Eat breakfast on the balcony? Yes! Ride the waves on inner tubes? Absolutely! Stay inside and watch old movies when the sun is too much? No problem. Eat Lucky Charms and Oreos like you're five? Who wouldn't? Take naps, spend time with Jesus, play games, watch the water, eat whenever you're hungry, fill up your cup a hundred times a day with the cool ice from the wet bar....yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes! No pressure, no schedule, no regrets.
Friday afternoon we went to the beach and got knocked around by big waves - laughing so hard at ourselves and the amount of sand we accumulated in our swimsuits, hair, ears, etc. We collapsed on our beach blanket and took goofy pictures. I said, "I think the beach cures my headache!" I felt so good. We thanked God for answering our prayers for pain-free days on vacation. Sunday was difficult and I tried a new "rescue" med - Treximet. It's for migraines and apparently works like a charm for those, but since my headache isn't migraine, it doesn't know good when it sees it I guess! So that was a let down, but it didn't stop anyone else from going out to enjoy the water, and I was able to play board games later and be the photographer's assistant for Julie and Will's engagement pictures on the beach, and I was completely content with that.
One of the best things about the condo where we stayed was having access to the owner's closet!! The condo belongs to Will's aunt and uncle so we had the keys to the indoor and outdoor closets where they keep extra toys and supplies like beach chairs, floats, kites, a football, paper towels, dish detergent, salt, ramen noodles, board games, plastic wrap... It was so convenient! Every time we thought of something we needed someone would say, "Check the owner's closet!". It made me think of prayer...you can go through life as a guest, enjoying what there is, but struggling with what you don't have or didn't know ahead of time, OR you can go through life with Christ, who has given us the keys to the Owner's closet of life through prayer. "...ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you," Jesus says in John 15:7. What a gift! What a privilege!
