Welcome to the Beautiful View Podcast, where we encourage you to look for opportunities in your life to see a beautiful view. I'm candy. 

And I'm Paul. Who doesn't love to take in a beautiful view? We recently got to soak up the beauty of time spent at the. 

Beach we did. And today we're going to share some of the beautiful things we got to experience on that trip and some takeaways that we can all learn from the beach. 

Yes, and this was my. Attire for the for the duration. So I felt like this is a yeah, this is where I transform into vacation. 

Oh yeah, the sea Turtle Beach chat. 

Me. And so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the beautiful view. 

So what have we been up to the last couple of weeks? Let's see. Tyler started back to school. 

Yes, he did. And he was so looking forward to it. So he pumped. 

Yeah, I was looking forward to seeing his friends. He he's a junior this year. Think he likes all of his classes, likes all of his teachers. It was a. 

Mm-hmm. 

He does. 

The first week I think so. 

Yeah, it went well. Yeah. And we've had some beautiful weather. It's like suddenly the temperatures during the day got into the the mid 70s and at night it's it's down to the 50s something so. So we no longer have air conditioning units. 

Oh yes, we have. Mm-hmm. Favorite my favorite? 

Running. No, not all the time so. 

All night, all the time. Yeah. There have been some days even that have even been like 71 ish where you can kind of leave the Windows open house. 

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, leaving the windows open and just, yeah, it's it it feels. Feel so much better out there and so we've been, we've been getting some outside stuff done and yeah. 

Yeah, it's been nice. We've continued to update our podcast studio. We realized when we filmed the last one, we had a lot of hard surfaces in here. So yeah, there was a lot of sound bouncing around and stuff that you kind of had to. 

Yes. Which there you know, there still is some, but what we've managed to do, we found a solution that isn't isn't very. Intensive. And so we've been putting up some acoustic panels in here, some homemade acoustic panels. Yeah. And so it should. It should sound a little better and we'll continue to make improvements. It's just really nice to have this space. 

MHM. 

Yeah. 

Mm-hmm. 

Where we can leave the gear set up and we can just kind of like gradually make it just as we want it. So that's been fantastic. And we also had some fun last night, right? 

Yes, that is huge. Yeah. We did have some fun last night and I don't know if I'm ever gonna get my voice back, so I apologize, but I just cannot be quiet, so I may have a squeaky voice forever more. 

Probably not. 

That's OK. Last night we attended the Tim McGraw concert at the Field of Dreams. It was so much fun. We I don't even know I had. We'd never seen Tim McGraw before in concert. We've seen a lot, seen a lot of concerts, but not Tim McGraw. And. 

Yes. Ohh yeah, that was amazing. Yeah. No. Yeah. 

There were probably, they said, over 20,000 people there. They had set the stage up kind of. 

Oh yeah. Not where we thought they were guys. 

Not where they thought, not where I thought they were going to, but kind of in front of where. 

No. 

The the movie site house was. 

Yeah. So and we've been to the movie site several times, so this is probably what the 4th or 5th time we've been there something like that. But so we to start with, you have to go straight to the the little baseball field and then you got to do the pictures in front of the house and the ghost players were out there. 

Mm-hmm. 

Yeah, probably. Ohh yeah, you gotta walk around there first. That's yes. Uh-huh. 

To to sort of like, mingle with everybody and take pictures and stuff. So that was really cool. 

Yeah. 

But the concert grounds there's a there's an MLB stadium on one side of the property, and then you got kind of like the Field of Dreams movie site in the middle with the house and everything. Yeah. And then on the other side of that, there was a field. There was just a cornfield before, and now it is a venue with a temporary stage and everything. So. 

MHM. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

There was a really amazing time. So I I I did my homework. I I listened to Tim McGraw all that morning and it was kind of like one of those things where, you know, so many of his songs are recognizable. Yeah. And so I'm like, ohh, so that country song was Tim McGraw. I know that country song. 

Oh. I know that song. 

Now other country song was Tim McGraw too. So not having grown up around country music, it's it's all still somewhat. 

Mm-hmm. 

New to me and. 

All the while I was raised on country music 90s country music, so I had the T-shirt and everything. 

He erased on 90s country. Yep, she has the shirts so. But it was just a really cool time. We got to hang out with friends. Mm-hmm. And yeah, just an amazing, amazing concert. And I'm sure they'll be doing many. So yeah, and also we have been working on our RV which used to be our moving house. We've been kind of tidying up and deep cleaning and trying to sort of transition it from what used to be our home. 

Mm-hmm. Yes. At. 

Into what it probably was intended to be, which is a a Weekender hamper not not like a full time travel around the country. 

Yeah. 

The. 

Yeah, yeah. 

But just the something you take out at the weekend so. 

Yeah. And we've also got the addition of the kids are growing up and they don't camp with us anymore. So just trying to make the space a little more, they do visit, they do visit for a little while and then they go home again. But it's fine. It's fine. But we're just trying to turn it into something that's a little more. 

Yeah. 

No. They visit. They'll come. Practical for us couple friends. 

I guess you could say yes. Yeah, so. 

Yeah. Yeah. So we we've got some changes. To mind, but to start with because we we're wanting to go camping in a couple of days and so to start with it was just important to us to kind of get it clean and get it ready to go. So. But anyway, it's been a been a busy summer. 

Yes. Right, right. Yeah. It has been a very busy summer and we've crammed as much as we possibly. 

Yes. 

Could this summer? 

As you can hear, we had the realization a while back when we were at family night, when Tyler had his summer scout camp and we were walking around with him and just. 

Hmm. Yes. 

Sort of. Just the comparison seeing him and his friends who are the same age compared to some of the Littlest Scouts. 

Like he? Yeah, he he's a giant compared to most of those kids at camp now. 

Used to be. 

Ohh. 

He is and we and we sort of came to the realization because it was coming to the end of this his. Summer. 

MHM. 

That he only has one more summer next year. And then he's gonna be. 

Like he'll be graduated after that. So it's like he has one summer left as a high school student. 

Would be graduated. How does that? How is that possible? 

It's just absolutely bonkers. I don't know. It definitely just makes me long for like, a slower pace of life just to kind of soak up all those little moments of his last couple of years of high school, yeah. 

Going by fast, it's just going by fast. So we're recording now, Memorial Day weekend and here in Bellevue, as I'm sure many other places, the flags are put up all over town. And so there are a lot of flags to put up every time there are volunteers who put the flags out. And this year, one of those little groups of. 

MHM. Mm-hmm. There are, yeah. 

Volume. Tiers was the NHS students, the National Honor Society, students of which Tyler is one right and I got a message from one of the teachers that was helping coordinate the whole thing, saying the NHS students did fantastic. They put the flags up way quicker than I was expecting and they worked well together. 

MHM. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

So Tyler is he's just one of those guys that is always around a group of friends. Everybody loves to have him around. He is growing up into a a very good young man and A and a member of the community, so it's fantastic. And I'm proud of him. 

Yes. Yeah, yeah. As we mentioned earlier today, we are going to be talking a little bit about our summer vacation to the beach. This is kind of a new tradition for our extended family. 

Yeah. Uh-huh. It is. Yeah, this was our second year to make this trip and we had a little further to travel this year. Last year we were still in Texas. So from San Angelo to the coast, it was only about a 7 hour drive. But this year 20 hours one way, so 40 hour round trip. 

Hmm yeah. Right. Right. Hmm. Total drive time. 

But thankfully with. Yourself and myself and our son, Tyler. We had three drivers. 

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes, we did. That was so nice to be able to swap out take turns. Yep, whoever wasn't driving could sleep in the back seat or whatever. It worked out really well. So. 

Made pit stops along. The way and and shared it out. And even though we had the furthest to travel as we got closer to our destination. And and you were like tracking everybody on the on the app, on your phone. 

Yeah, life 360. I had all my sisters on that. Some of them had race cars. I don't really know what that means. 

So. What does a race car mean? It means that they're driving sports cars right. Anyway, so as we got closer, I was starting to realise we could we could actually like we could be the first there we could. We could win this thing. 

Yeah, yeah, we can find this thing. 

So. So we made it there really quick and we actually needed to go into town and get some stuff, but we made it to the the House we were renting first, got a picture outside and and we won, yes. 

Yeah, we had. To have the picture for proof we. So last summer, after we lost my mom, all of my siblings, we were all just craving that time together. Just quality family time. We were grieving and we just really found strength in being together, my brother. 

Yeah. 

Cody and my sister in love, Kim, had booked a house down in Rockport, TX. Yep. 

Yeah. 

And they invited any of the family that wanted to to come down and vacation. 

Which was fantastic. 

And Paul and I were still in Texas and we were kind of waiting on the probate hearing. We didn't really know exactly when that was going to be, but as soon as we found out that it was going to be the other side of that, we were like, yeah, we're in. Let's do it. So we tagged along on the. 

Yeah. Yes. 

Strip. 

As it turned out, almost everyone tagged along. All of your siblings. We brought your daddy with us. There was a bunch of kids. It was like a whole crew. Like, like how many was it? Like, a lot. 

Mm-hmm. I think there are around 15 of us total and we had we had a house there were there was almost enough beds for everyone. We slept on an air mattress but that was fine, but we only had one bathroom, so that was kind of interesting. But it was fine. We all survived. 

15 in the house. Yeah, it was a big house, yeah. One bath. That's it's. No, it's a that's a that's. Test of family unity like it it worked. 

That's right. That's right. It did. And it was exactly what we all needed. Yeah. We actually recorded one of our podcast episodes from there, and it was really sweet. It was about the importance of family. And we were just all in the fields at the time, you know, so it was a really. 

Well. 

Uh-huh. 

Sweet family thing and we got the nieces and nephews involved and they absolutely love seeing our setups, the cameras and everything and. 

We did, yeah. Yeah, that episode was called Family Adventures. If you want to go back and and check that out. Yeah. Ashley was probably the most interested. She was, like, curious. Like, how does this all work? And like, why do you have two cameras? And yeah, are you on the you? Are you on the youtubes? 

Yeah. Uh-huh. Are you on YouTube? They all wanted to know. Are we gonna be on YouTube? 

So yeah, like, yeah, we are, that's that's where we're at. So it was also very hot and. Humid, yes. So we had to, like we had a problem with lenses steaming up at 1st and we were hot. 

You know when you're in air conditioning and you walk outside and it's hot and humid and your glasses fog up. That's what our camera. 

That was. 

Lenses were doing. 

Yeah. Yeah. So we we had to like let all the equipment acclimatized and but it it went very well and everybody got to it was it was a little. 

Mm-hmm. 

Talking with you in front of cameras and to you guys, like with our family sitting around watching us. 

I think that was the first time we had ever had any kind of an audience around us when we were recording. Aside from maybe the dogs or occasionally a kid that walks past in our house. But that beach trip last year was such a success that everyone decided to put a little more kind of thought into it this year and intentional planning. 

Yeah, yeah. Like we gotta do that again. 

And yeah, so we decided to make it an annual family reunion vacation. 

Yes. 

All of that. So this year we rented a bigger house, had even more family there, and we stayed for longer. So. And I so wish we had started this tradition years ago. My mom would have absolutely loved this. So, but that's OK. We're doing it from this point on. 

Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Ohh, she would have yes. And looking forward to next year. 

Looking forward to next year. 

Yeah. 

Today we are going to share 3 lessons we can all learn from the beach. The first lesson is every moment counts. Grab the opportunity. When it comes, it might not present itself again. 

Yes. It does. We had two beach days during that week where we took the ferry across to Port Aransas. We were in Rockport and so the little drive to the beach is like what, 45 minutes? Something like that, but get to go across on the ferry, so that's that's. 

Yeah. Like. Yeah. Yeah. That's. 

Pretty cool. And both of those days we walked the beach collecting seashells, and Addison absolutely loves to do that. 

Yes, she does. She has her little bucket and she loves it. 

So there were a couple of times that we would sort of like she'd spot a seashell and she would go to pick it up and the wave would come in again and pull the seashell back into the sea before she could get it done. 

Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was. She wasn't. She wasn't. She's like, it's such a small thing. 

Quite quick enough. 

And there were plenty of other seashells, but it reminded me to not ever assume that you have time to do something in life, right? Grab that seashell. Make the phone call. Say you're sorry. Spend the time. Take the trip. Tell someone that you love them. Collect moments like seashells. 

Yes. 

Small treasures scattered along the shoreline of. Days. 

I love that the kids love to find and collect seashells. You know, it seems like such an old fashioned thing to do in a in a day of constant visual digital engagement with like, you know, the tablets for the kids and and and endless supply of videos, even with all of those distractions. 

MHM. MHM. Oh yes. MM. 

That we have in our everyday. Knives. They wanted to put those aside and and they absolutely loved being on the beach. Yeah, there was nothing more important to them on that day than to explore and have fun. 

Absolutely. When we arrived at the beach house, it was so funny. I know, I know. I must have just looked crazy, but I was just bouncing around like a ping pong ball for the first couple of days I was trying to take in everyone and everything. Of course, we hadn't seen everyone since. What the spring? So the kids had grown, you know, just like 

Yes, you were. 

So excited. 

Yes. 

It was been a time. 

Yeah. 

I just wanted to do everything and I didn't want to miss anything. 

And I got back into the rhythm of living with the family again and sort of like, you know, chitchat and what I what I like, what really is good for me is that, you know, when when you all arrive at the house together, there's things to unload and things to sort out and places to put things. And so there's lots to do. 

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah. 

And I really like to kind of get in. I I'm not the best at small talk and just. Like you know, so so to do things together and like it to interact in that way, it's just that that. 

Yeah, yeah. Works great for me. Yeah, it is interesting to kind of observe how everyone acclimatises to the new living situation for the entire week. So I think for us siblings, there's four of us. I'm the oldest. It's a familiar yet. 

Yes. 

Kind of a different experience as adults with families, you know, but all four of us. 

Yeah, I imagine. Yeah, yeah. But kind of like when you were kids again, sort of. 

Yeah, there's, there's that familiarity there. But you know, we all just kind of tend to fall into a rhythm of sorts. I guess it's really interesting. 

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And the house was big enough. It was like they had two back decks on 2 levels, so anyone could retreat to a quiet corner anytime they wanted to. So like the kids, like the kids that are like, not like running gun all the time, they they would find like we'd find them sitting in a chair in the corner or whatever. 

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah, yeah. 

So you could find a quiet spot. There were some times where I just sat out on that upper deck and just sort of listen to the conversations that were going on underneath and just it was. It was so nice. 

Mm-hmm. Yeah, right. Yeah, there was one spot upstairs, kind of outside of where our bedroom was. There was kind of a little bit of a nook and it had a nice, like pops on chair in it. And so a lot of times. And there was like a. 

Yeah, sounds good. 

Outlet right next to it. So there were several times that I'd come up there and I'd find a kid like sitting in the Pops on chair, half asleep with their phone plugged in on the charger. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it was good that it had enough spaces like that. Yeah. And. And it's funny because you and your siblings are all very different people, very different personalities. 

This. 

But there's a family bond that exists there that keeps everyone together. Everyone is so supportive of each other and we've all continued to grow in our relationships with each other over the years. There's so much grace that happens. I know that it would make your moms heart. 

Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Very glad to know that this still happens each year. 

Yeah, I think so too. 

One thing that I was so glad that I didn't miss out on and my my brothers in law kind of sprung this on me at the last. So I'm not really a I'm not really a fisherman, right? Like fishing never goes well for me. 

Yes, they do. 

Probably about 30 minutes before they actually left the house. They're like, OK, we are gonna go night fishing on the beach. Are you coming? 

MHM. 

So I'm like, OK, I think so. So I'm like trying to figure out, OK, how am I gonna get a hold of a fishing license? Right. So I get the app. I get my fishing license. 

It was probably 9:30 at night already when this was. 

It's like 9:30 at night and I'm like, and so, so. So I'm in the middle. That and I'm doing something else as well, and then they're like, OK, we're leaving. So OK, so I jump in the truck and we make the trip back to the beach at Port Aransas and. Man, what a night. I mean to be out there on the beach with my, with my brothers. 

Yeah. MHM. 

Looking up at the stars, we were out until like 2:00 AM and I actually caught some fish. Nothing, if anybody would want to. Nothing you'd wanna photograph nothing you'd wanna eat? I mean, even to get the hooks out of their mouths. We had to, like, hold them with a clamp because they're poisonous. 

Yeah. Nothing. Write home about. 

So, but yeah, I just we had such a good time and and. My brother, my brother-in-law. Your brother has really good fishing rods and and. And so they were the easiest things to cast. Nothing ever hung up. I mean, it was just it was. It was a great experience. I I'm so glad that they made. They made me do it. 

MMM. Ohh yes. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sober. I'm. I'm so glad that they made you do it. And I know that that experience is going to hang with you for a long time. 

Ohh well that that was probably the one of the highlights of the whole thing was was going down to the beach with them. 

I love it. 

I love it. 

OK. So the second lesson we can learn from the beach is that life never stops moving, and there isn't a thing we can. 

Yeah. Actually. 

Do about it. 

No. 

As much as we would like time to slow down or to avoid the arrival of certain dates or events in our lives, guess what we can't. I had a moment at the beach house when I was sitting in a chair upstairs. And I just kind of it was one of those moments where I kind of it wasn't the papasan chair, it was another chair with the foot stool and everything, but it looked out over the Bay Area over our balcony and into the the Bay. And I was kind of sort of keeping my eyes open for dolphins because we had seen several out there. But anyway, my niece. 

Yeah. 

Ashley came through and she sat down on the stool and we just started talking about school coming up and friends and all the things she's looking forward to and those kinds of things. 

So. 

And then Lucas, my nephew, comes up the stairs and he says, what are you doing? And so so we're just chatting. He's like, well, so he starts talking to you and talking about his school year coming up and. 

He's a big thinker. 

Oh, he is. He's a he's a deep thinker, so he kind of joined in. Then one at a time. The twins Addison and Aubrey came over and they both piled up on the chair. And so I had all my little, you know, it was really, it was really sweet. 

Yeah, it was a sight. 

And you know, it's just one of those things that I just will always kind of keep a mental picture of. Umm, in my in my head, I wish I could just put it in like a bottle, you know, just in that little in my treasure chest or something. But the kids, you know what they're going to keep growing. There will be a day where they can't climb up and pile on it. Andy's lap, right? Life is constantly moving forward and there's nothing we can do about it. 

It is. No, I too had a recurring thought about the waves as I was seeing them coming into the beach. You know, those waves have been coming in one at a. Time since the beginning of those oceans, like without stopping. Yeah, I think that the waves give us a perfect picture of the temporal nature of moments in time. Mm-hmm. They seem really strong as they pass us and can even knock us off of our feet if. 

Mm-hmm. 

We're not ready for them. 

True. 

But as soon as they arrive, they pass and then they get smaller as they disappear into the shore. Mm-hmm. Whether the ocean waves are crashing or breaking gently, it never stops moving. There is beauty in the constant movement of the sea, just as there is beauty in the constant movement of our lives. Mm-hmm. It just reminds me how much we should hold on to and enjoy. 

MHM. 

Every moment that passes. 

Absolutely. And as we learn to adjust to the movement, instead of frantically grasping and trying to stop it. We gain peace, acceptance of things as they are allows us to transform how we respond, releasing our desire to control the waves of life and instead trusting that God has a plan far bigger than ours, is so comforting. 

Yes. 

And as we walked out into the water, the the beach where we were at had plenty of sand bars. So you would go out and the water would get deeper and deeper and deeper. And then just when you thought, ohh, kind of, you know, starting to get out of my depth here, you know. 

Mm-hmm. Your ankle deep again? Yeah. 

The yeah, you go. Back up on the sound bar and that that would happen 3 or 4 times. The way. Out there. So you had a choice over where you stood as the waves came in. If you wanted to face the waves and see them come towards you. You. Could or you could turn around and face the beach and the waves would come past you. When I was younger, I used to dive into the waves as they approached, but those days are over. 

M. 

Mm-hmm. Oh yes. No more, yeah. 

So you have a choice as to where to stand and how to face these moments. But you can't stop the waves from coming. 

That's very true. I have always loved the beach. Always. I love the sounds, the smells, the textures. That was the. That was Addison's word of the day when we were there collecting seashells and candy and candy. Feel this. When it has a great texture. 

Yes. She loved to say that. 

So cute. 

It was so fun seeing things through her eyes. And then you of course, had to build a sand. 

MHM. 

Castle, of course. And so all the kids got involved in. 

That, yeah, it started out, I think it was just me and Addison at 1st and then. Callen came over and he helped us build the Moat, you know, because he's the boy and he wanted to dig the holes and all the things. And then Aubrey came over and she helped a little bit. And so it turned into like, a family affair to build this sandcastle. And it was it was, it turned out, pretty decent, you know. 

Yes, of course. Yeah. Yeah. And I came across and I I started helping a little bit too, helping. I was, I was kind of causing more trouble than I was than I was. Popping, but I I really love it. I love that that interaction with the kids and like doing something together. That's really cool. Yeah, but there are also plenty of hazards if you go out into the sea if you're not careful. And I was explaining this to Lucas. So Lucas, I didn't know this at the time, but Lucas had been talking to his mum and dad about how much he wanted to go out. 

It's so much fun. 

Into the sea and to sort of like get get out there a little further than he had before, I guess. Yeah. And so he kind of followed me out into the sea at one point, which was his first time out there. 

Hmm. 

And so we were kind of just taking it slow and, you know, making sure that we didn't get too deep. And I was explaining to him what RIP currents are RIP tides like, you can, you know, the the water returning back out to the ocean can sometimes be very strong. Yeah. So I'm kind of, you know, just telling him, you know, some a few safety tips. And they're also like. 

Hmm yeah. 

As I said, well, that night we went out fishing, we caught, we caught some of these fish that have the spines on the back and those things like they're catfish. They can be on like, right on the sea bed. So. So you can walk out there and if you're not careful, you can actually like, step on one of these things. And they're also bitty creatures out there. There's jellyfish. 

Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Yeah. 

Fish, yeah. 

There's all kinds of hazards, but you know, if you if you're too, like, afraid of those things, you're never gonna go out there and have fun. So, yeah. 

Mm-hmm. Yeah. True. That's very true. That brings us to lesson 3 from the beach. Yes, it is so important to be present with our people. Our attention is so divided these days, isn't it? I I didn't take very many photos at the beach this time just because. 

This. 

I didn't want to constantly have my phone on me. Mm-hmm. And part of it was I didn't want it to get wet and get sand in and all that. But the other part of it was, I just really wanted to soak up everything and everyone. Yes. So I put that away. And I just tried to spend all of my time focusing on my people. 

To be present. 

Yes, especially the little people. 

Yes. 

Isn't that so? Much like our God, he wants us to be with him, to live in fellowship and relationship with him. Rather than just knowing about him. 

MHM. 

Here recently I've been trying to make a conscious effort to talk out some of the things I'm dealing with, because we all have things that we're kind of like working on in our minds. Sure, and rather than just sort of going over and over it in my head, I've been like, OK, so if if appropriate, you know when no one else is around to just. 

Mm-hmm. 

Quietly say. Lord, please help me with XYZ. I'm struggling with you know, have a conversation. Yeah. And when I say turn it into a prayer, I don't mean like a formal well crafted holy prayer. I just mean just how, yeah, expressing my concerns. And I feel like when you do that. 

Mm-hmm. 

Yeah. Conversation. Conversational. Yeah. 

You you, you develop this this trust, so you know, as soon as I say it out to God is off of my mind, right. And I know that, you know he is. 

Mm-hmm. Release it into his control, yeah. 

Exactly because he's greater than than what? Anything I any solution I could come up with. With. So I think that even saying thank you, you know like when something happens, that's good. Thank you, Lord, that involves God in our lives in a very practical, real way. 

Thanks. 

Love that. I'm not sure there is anywhere that I feel God's presence more than when I'm at the beach. There is something about the vastness of it, the way the sea meets the horizon. I just kept finding myself walking out into the waves and just taking it all in. It just looks end. Experiences like that always send me into a worship experience. It always makes me feel so small in God's vast creation. It makes me long for eternity with my savior. 

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I agree this is a timeless view. The view of the sea that has not changed much at all in millennia. Like you know, when you look out there, that's the same way as it looked pretty much like hundreds of years ago, thousands of years ago. 

MM. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

And that gives me a perspective that allows me to put everything else into its place at the end of the day, our troubles and problems are not that big of a deal. 

Yeah. Yeah. 

There are more important things in life than the challenges we face. We need to take every opportunity to build great lasting memories with each other. Absolutely. I love the lyric, always be humble and kind. 

Ohh yeah. 

From who is that artist now? Huh? Umm, that's a huge key to a happy life as we do. Good for others thinking of them as more important than ourselves. 

Hmm. 

We will enter into this holy life that continues to build and develop around us. Your kindness will be reciprocated. 

So to review the three things we learned from the beach are one to collect moments like seashells number. To learn to trust God in the waves of life and #3 be present in our relationships both with God and our people. 

Yes, there are so many scriptures in the Bible that reference the sea from creation to the Psalms, to the New Testament. God has power and majesty over the seas. He created them. He parted them, he calmed them. 

Mm-hmm. MHM. 

Psalms 89 versus 8 through 9 says O Lord God of Heavens armies, where is there any one as mighty as you, O Lord, you are entirely faithful. You roared the oceans. You subdue their storm taste waves. 

It's no wonder that we feel the presence of God so closely when we are near the sea. I can't help but think about the story in the New Testament when Jesus was taking a nap in the boat on the Sea of Galilee. For all of you Bible scholars. Yes, I know the Sea of Galilee is a freshwater lake. I could eat breath. It's OK. The point is, when a wild storm reared its ugly head on the water. 

Yeah. 

The wind blowing violently, the waves crashing. The disciples woke Jesus from his nap, trembling with fear, and he responded. Why are you afraid? You have so little. 8. Then he got up, rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The rest of that story, if you're interested, can be found in Matthew Chapter 8. 

Yes, Jesus comes our storms in life to plan some time this week to stop and process a few things with God. Mm-hmm. And we're going to drop these following questions in the show notes for for you to look at later. 

On yeah. So prayerfully ask yourself some questions. Are you intentionally collecting lifes? Moments like seashells on the beach? Are there any opportunities you need to grab before it's too late? 

Are you trusting God through the waves of life? Is there something that you need to release control of so that God can work in you and through you? 

Are you actively present with your people? Your spouse, your kids, your parents, your siblings, your friends, or are you constantly distracted and not giving them the attention they desire? 

Mm-hmm. 

How about with God? Is it difficult or easy to feel his presence in your life? What practical steps or boundaries can you put in place to be more present? 

Our lives seem to just fly by every stage. It seems like just yesterday we were raising our young children and raising them in the RV, like when we were in there cleaning it up. Just the memories there. Yeah. Now these young children are young adults, are becoming young adults. Mm-hmm. Even at the most mundane. 

Yes. Mm-hmm. 

Times in life the days seem to pass more and more quickly. 

For real, what happened to this summer? 

I have no. 

It is. 

It can be so difficult to grasp what is moving at lightning speed around us. Time spent at the beach is always a treasured time for me. The sound of the waves, the warmth of the sand in my toes, the ocean breeze that surrounds me. It all comes together to bring me to a place where I can truly pause. In those moments I can better hear what God is saying to me in the midst of my life. We all need some of that. 

Don't we? Yes, we do. Today, we want to encourage you even if you can't go to a beach to find a beautiful place with a beautiful view. Of course that inspires you and spend some time alone in the presence of God and ponder some of the lessons from the beach. 

Of. 

That we have mentioned today. 

Thank you for joining us today. Our hope is always to encourage and inspire our listeners. The summer was rejuvenating to our souls, so we hope that the things that we shared today will fill your cup as. 

Yes. It was. Well, if you like what we do here at the beautiful view. Podcast you can show your appreciation by becoming a supporting member for only $5.00 a month. We'll send you a Members only Beautiful View podcast sticker and a weekly encouraging newsletter to your inbox. Your support helps us cover our production costs, the link to sign up is in our show. 

Notes yes. And also be sure to check out our merch store. We've added a few new items for the upcoming fall and winter. Including a zip up hoodie that several people had requested, so we'll include that link in our show notes. 

Yeah. Yes. As well and as we conclude each episode, we always like to give the topic for the next. So what are we going to be talking about next time, Miss Candy? 

Well, we are going to call our next episode falling into fall. All of our favorite things about the season. Yeah, I love that we live in a place that has Four Seasons and they're definite seasons. 

Yes. Yes. They are including the cold one, right. 

Yeah, we want to. That's right, fall happens to be my favorite, and we're going to talk about all the things lovely about fall. 

OK. Well, that does sound lovely. We both have fall birthdays too, so that means we're getting old. 

Yes. 

Yeah. Speak for yourself. Thank you once again for joining us today. We hope you have a great day and always remember to keep an eye open for opportunities in life to see a beautiful view. Yeah, have. 

A great week.