That title carries a lot of weight…and to be honest, before said beach trip, I wasn’t thinking much of this little escape to an Airbnb 2 blocks from Surfside Beach last summer. I was actually dreading it. We had just moved our little family (my husband, my son, myself, and our little doodle, Dexter) from the only town my son had ever called home. Many 300 + mile trips back and forth from Midland to our new home in Belton over the past couple of months as our house was being built had left us ALL road weary AND DONE…you know that feeling, right? Just DONE!
We were grappling with so much NEW – new home, new neighbors, new school for Jackson, new smells for Dexter, and SOOOO MANY BOXES. Added to that was the hurt of leaving family and friends behind.
But, we traveled the four hours down to the little beach house and braced ourselves for more new. Dexter panted nervously the entire way, filling our car with a funky dog-breath fragrance. We made a stop at Buc-ee’s (of course, iykyk) and navigated Houston traffic.
Soon, we drove over TX 332 where it bridges over the marina and caught our first view of the Gulf of America. A calm warmed my chest, that had been tight with nerves and stress, we pointed, and oooohed and ahhhhhed, trying to take in all of the beauty that surrounded us. As we got closer to our little beach house, the views exploded in color, bright blues, pinks, yellows and greens, as though each owner had been told when painting, “the only rule is BRIGHT!”
We settled into our little, yellow beach house on stilts and got down to the beach ASAP. Again standing there, I felt the warm calm in my chest, my teeth stopped clenching and I felt something unfamiliar from the past several weeks…it was a smile! I looked at my husband and my son, seeing the sweet smiles I had missed so much from the past weeks and months of turmoil. Moving had been hard on our little family, and our family had endured several years of hard before the move.
I stayed with Dexter on the beach, letting my toes feel the wet sand, as my hubby and son waded into the warm gulf, letting the waves move them to and fro. And I thanked God, probably pretty loudly (lol) for this little slice of heaven that we found. Over the next 4 days, we laughed, slept, napped in hammocks, played and found our joy again.
So, you see, the trip DID save our lives. And sometimes, it’s just as simple as that, a change of scenery, salty water and sand between your toes, to make you slow down and thank God that He brought you through it!
