Sunshine Wisdom

When our lives have been flooded with rain, the wise see even a moment of sunshine, as a gift.

My hubby and I, recently took a trip for our anniversary. We have rarely been away without our kids and in our new empty nest season, it seemed like it was time. We decided to go to Jekyll Island where we could park the truck for the entire weekend and ride our bicycles.

When we awoke on Saturday morning, the weather was beautiful. I couldn’t stop commenting on the color of the sky. It didn’t occur to me until later, that blue skies have been rare here lately. One of the Atlanta news stations reported that we have had 14.75 inches of rain this year and it’s only February. We are currently beating Seattle by like two inches!

No wonder my heart and soul longed for the blue sky and sunshine.

As we made our way towards the beach where the bike path runs, the wind was really gusty, I mean we had to fight the wind to ride, and it was hurting my ears. My hubby had a hoodie, but I didn’t. Undaunted, we hit the shops until we found a hat and gloves I could purchase.

Life was good and we got back on the trail, soaking up the sun and pedaling away. I remember sending up a prayer of thanks for the beautiful day and the new season we were in. Life was different without our kids, but still fun. We made it for 5 miles, but right at Driftwood Beach, my back tire went flat.

Determined to enjoy our day, we pushed the bikes out of the way and walked on the beach for a while. Then we got back on the trail back to our hotel. The further we got away from the beach, the more the wind died down. We laughed and joked about how our kids would have viewed the wind and the flat tire as hardship. We viewed them as an adventure.

We talked and walked the four plus miles back to the hotel, greeting all the cyclists we passed along the way, growing a little weary, but never discouraged, always enjoying the gorgeous sunshine. When we reached the hotel, we got in the truck, retrieved our bikes, got some lunch and then a nap followed some coffee, and we went off to explore again.

We soaked up just about every drop of sunshine we could and watched the sunset over the water.

As I write this, it’s been raining for the past four days and now I realize why we were so enamored with the blue sky and the sunshine. But, I am also reminded that change is hard. Starting a new chapter is both sad and exciting at the same time. It’s a tension that comes from living on this side of eternity. If I’m honest, about my current season, I will have to admit that there have been times that I have wanted to just go back to how things used to be.

But, the sunshine coupled with the mishaps last weekend, reminded me that happiness is in fact, a choice. We could have let the wind stop us. We could have given into frustration over the tire or the long walk. Our younger selves may have. But, there’s a measure of wisdom that comes from living and that wisdom told us that every moment together with the people we love is a gift from God and every drop of sunshine is precious and those who are wise, don’t take even a moment, for granted.

A sunny day reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂