Sand in Your Pockets

 Yesterday, it was chilly and rainy - that kind of spring rain that refreshes yet gets you ready for the warmer days ahead.  I wore my sweat jacket - the new one I had just gotten a few weeks ago and was able to take to Hawaii with me on my spontaneous Spring Break trip. 

As I was talking to someone, I inadvertently put my hands in my pockets.  I felt something in the pockets, and as I pulled my hands out again, my fingertips had course sand on them.  I was standing at my job, but immediately I was transported back to the beaches of Hawaii.  

"Which beach was this from?" I thought to myself.

This was the course sand - not the sand we found on the smooth perfection at sunrise.

As I reflected on this moment today, I thought of you, friends.

All of you who dream of sand and shore & of rhythmic waves reaching for your feet

Do you know that on one Island the variety is remarkable?

There are beaches with smooth sand, and beaches of volcanic stone mixed with course sand.  And there are still others of crashing waves, and sweeping beaches with waves that will pull you off your feet - ones with loose sand in which you will sink deep until the sand covers your ankles with every step.

I've been told I'm adventurous and spontaneous.

But I've not always been so.  

I'm a naturally risk averse person - never wanted to make the wrong decision or make a foolish mistake.  (I was even the student who would hold back a right answer for fear I was wrong.)

But last year, I was challenged to read the book "Love Does" by Bob Goff.

And I've never been the same. 

In reading his book, I was challenged to let go of the fear that holds me back from love and from the magic of spontaneity.  I was challenged to say "yes" to the opportunities that open before me, and to look for ways of creating opportunities. 

As I was thinking of you this morning - I thought:

"What is holding you back from the sand in your pockets?"

Is it money? fear? work? family? the box of social expectations others put you in or you put yourself in?

Remember that no next day is ever promised. 

You'll never know what the sand feels like if you keep waiting for "someday" to come.

Take the trip. 

Invest in opportunity. 

&

Capture the wonder of a simple "yes" of obedience.