Treasure Hunting

The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches.  Patience and faith.  One should lay empty, open, choice-less as a beach – waiting for a gift from the sea.”  - Anne Morrow Lindberg

Every year or two, my husband and I go visit our timeshare in Kauai.  Snorkeling is the big highlight for me, and I’ve been on an elusive search for a sea turtle for years. However, they’re playing a pretty good game of hide and seek, because I’ve swam beside hundreds of spectacular fish, but not one single turtle. One day, while just sitting on the beach, a giant sea turtle crawled out of the ocean and beached himself about 10 feet from me. The lifeguards soon cordoned off the area where it sunbathed, and I sat amazed at this furrowed, beguiling beauty, as well as my good fortune. I had searched with the focus of finding a turtle, and the turtle rewarded me with grace, and plunked himself right beside me.  He came to me, not in the way I had expected, but I sure couldn’t deny his presence! He had tagged me, I was “IT”!

Patience, oh how that word makes me…well…impatient! It involves letting go, and I’m as tenacious as they come when I focus on something. I do have some patience; in fact I look at the word as a bit relative.  I have patience with children, but not with myself.  I have patience with gardening, admiring each minute change, but not with sitting still or pacing my strength. I want to be thin, but the daily resolve needed to achieve the goal is tiresome. God has his hands very full teaching me discipline, and the process of letting go and releasing worries to Him is not often fully realized. He is my sea, and I am swimming through his beautiful kingdom impatiently digging for quick treasures while mired down in a kelp forest (which, I must say, though restrictive, can also be quite lovely).

Almost two years ago two of my grandsons, and their parents, moved from out of state to just down the road from me. Oh, the adventures the boys and I have!  We hunt and identify insects and birds, go on space adventures; create beautiful pieces of art and culinary masterpieces. We play together, swim together, laugh together, learn from each other, and love each other deeply. In fact here is an example of a treasure I received yesterday when six year old Ethan came to my house after school.  He was at the kitchen table and said excitedly, “Oh Grandma, I need to tell you what I learned in school today.” “If I just put the number six in my head and count all my fingers, I can count all the way to 16 without running out of fingers!” He walked out of the kitchen shaking his head and saying with amazed confidence, “I know everything”.  I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to have ALL my grandchildren living around me, like my grandparents did. To have grandchildren is a blessing beyond words, but to actually have them in your daily life, for me, is a piece of heaven.

My mother warned me when they came, “Lisa, remember they are not your children”.  She was right to warn me, because they do feel like mine, and I am as protective as a mama bear with them. 

There is a chance they may be moving to another state again, and I am in a tailspin.  My greedy arms want to grab them and hold them hostage, and yet…they are not mine. And even though they are their loving parent’s responsibilities, they are not truly theirs either.  They are God’s children, and He promises to take good care of them.  Living near my grandsons has been my biggest treasure, and I am having the hardest time relinquishing them to their creator. God whispers in my ear that He will not leave or forsake them when, (or, if) they are gone from this state, and He will watch over my grandsons and their development. I will mourn and ache for the daily treasures their lives have brought me, but I pray God will open up new opportunities for me as the busyness of their little lives potentially are moved on.

"God give me patience and faith.  Help me to have peace with my choice-less-ness.  Let your will be done with my grandchildren. Help me to learn a new rhythm. You have sought me and found me Lord, but YOU are “IT”."

 

Insect explorations

Ethan's Dragonfly. He learned the hard way to release after capture. He called me crying that his dragonfly died and the ants were eating it. Tough, tough, lesson.



Making Christmas decorations.

Remy loves to bake, and he can crack an egg decisively without any shells going into the bowl!

The boys are watching their cookies bake.  Wolf is with them, of course.  Wolf is a story doll that turns into Little Red Riding Hood, and her Grandma. The boys love Wolf best and he goes on a lot of adventures with us.

One of our many space adventures. We have to all wear something white and wear strainers on our heads for our spacesuits. My bed is the spaceship, then we get out and go to various planets around the house.  My dark walk-in closet is "The Scary Black Hole", that we inadvertently get sucked into each trip.