Our week spent in Atlantic Beach, NC found us all tired for various reasons.  My hubbie had being on two week-long trips, we’d driven 10 hours to Alabama, finished school as well as football playoffs.  The North Carolina Coast is a long drive from Florida as well.  We piled into the car on Friday for another 10-11 hours of driving.  Our children are quickly outgrowing our minivan.

There was much sleeping and napping going on at the beach.  We had a great time and happened to be there when the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament was in full swing.  We went into Morehead City Monday afternoon to watch them pull in the fish that ended up winning the tournament.   Just shy of 500 lbs., the fish was a beast.  Northern winds made the last few days of fishing rough for the anglers!  Although rough at seas with swells to 10 feet those days on the beach were amazingly calm with a lake for an ocean.

We caught the cutest puffer fish from the beach and were entertained by them blowing themselves up like beach balls.

We ventured into Beaufort, NC our annual Sunset Cruise.  Since the days were barely in the 80’s the Sunset Cruise was chilly.  It felt more like winter in Florida than summer in NC.

We rented bikes and while my husband and my brother-in-law biked for fitness, my sister and I leisurely peddled around the block several times each evening.

I say all this to come to the point of reentry.  I’ve felt the burn!  You know the one…when the space shuttle reenters the earth’s atmosphere and everything looks like it’s on fire.

The ride home?  Not so fun.  The unpacking?  Ditto.  Preparing for the week?  Laundry.  Neighborhood kids.  Father’s Day.  It somehow all imploded within me to prove to be an overwhelming and frazzled day!  Monday morning has proven no better.  I need a vacation from my vacation.  Somehow I’ve gotten past today.  I’m thinking of school for next year and what we may have to do over the summer to prepare.  I’m tired and whiney.  I’m not much fun to be around so don’t come knocking on my door!  You might not like me.  I might growl.

It’s in these moments like today I beg God for his comfort and covering over emotions, hormones and all things that pull at a mommy’s heart.  I try to put things into perspective.  I slip on the attitude of gratefulness and it’s scratchy.  The pitty party gown feels much nicer.

It’s in these moments I feel so small.  Like the kids in the ocean, the storm rages around me and I try to center myself on the One and Only.  The Great I Am.  For it is only in Him my peace will return.

Then I wonder if the answer lies in throwing myself into His arms as the sea swirls around me and wait for His soft and gentle embrace that sets everything right within my heart again.

Surrender.

Surrender with joy.  Now that I must chew on.