Today was the perfect day for us to go to the beach. About halfway through the day the tide began to go out and left us with a huge open span of water only about a foot deep with no big waves and then a sand bar behind that with water only about three inches deep. The waves crashed on the other side so Jakob actually enjoyed the beach on his own in the water for the first time today. Last year he was knocked down by a wave and pulled out a little bit and it scared me and him so bad I have noticed that since then he doesn't go close to the water. So as soon as I noticed the water had pulled out and we had a sandbar to play on I picked him up (against his will) and helped him get past his fear of the water. He cried at first, almost hysterically until I was finally able to get him to see that the waves were not crashing near him.
As soon as he realized he could play and move around freely as much as he wanted he began to leap and jump and play and say, "I'm a big boy now!!" He was so proud of himself for overcoming his fear and being able to play in the water. If I hadn't given him that push, he NEVER would have gone out. It was a great lesson for him to trust me and believe in himself.
He played for so long he fell asleep as soon as we pulled out of the regional access point. Willow was also able to play more freely because the surf was much safer than it has been the last few times we went. Those two were enjoying every second of it and it blessed me so much.
Here I am, sitting in a foot of water with my camera, looking down this crystal coastline in pure and utter peace. It was hard to leave and come home today. On days like these you feel like God parted the seas just for you and right in the middle of them is the only place you want to be. He seizes moments like this so often I can't dismiss them. He speaks in the smallest of things and if we are not listening, we can easily miss them. Just as He has a time for everything, parenting our children comes with special moments. Sometimes you don't intervene and you let time take its course, and other times you actively pick your child up and carry them to the other side because you can see what is on it, even when they only see fear. Now THAT IS what God does. He sees the other side when we can't, and when all we can see is fear, He will take us through to give us boldness of faith and to remind us we can trust Him.