We recently had to take an unexpected, last-minute trip to South Carolina.

While there, I felt as if I couldn’t leave without at least stepping foot on the sands of the beach.

With all the craziness of open heart surgery this past spring, I did feel somewhat gypped out of a proper summer.

I guess deep down maybe I thought seeing the ocean before year’s end might, oddly enough, give my UV deprived mind and body, some sort of closure.

You know, I never seriously contemplated the beach, or at least the Carolina beaches, in the winter months. It’s almost like, in my mind, their beauty and warmth would just sit there, paused in time, waiting for me to show back up again the following summer.

Amid the winter storm warnings and falling temperatures we experience hundreds of miles away, the beach was the furthest thing from my mind. Once the gritty towels and wet bathing suits were packed up and ready to head back out onto the highway that led home, the shores of South Carolina were out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

A “day at the beach” for me consists of sitting in my “low rider” beach chair and basking in the relaxing warmth of the summer sun as it radiates deep down into the sand where I have buried my feet in their temporary, but cozy, shallow grave.

Usually deeply enthralled in a good book, or captivated by the act of people-watching, time spent on the sandy shores is my idea of pure tranquility.

Yep, in this setting, all is right with the world.

But now, here in the dead of winter, as I venture out onto the pathway that leads to the Carolina shores of the Atlantic, I am bundled up in a down-filled coat, hat, and fleece pants while the wind whips my face reminding me that my beloved beach, does in fact, experience the harshness of winter. With temperatures registering in the low 30’s but feeling more like the low 20’s thanks to the coastal winds, the words “tranquil” or “relaxing” aren’t within this seaside synopsis vocabulary.

Not meaning to sound like the Talking Heads, but I did indeed tell myself,

“This is not my beautiful beach…

This is not my beautiful sweltering weather…”

But here, on the last day of December, as I stand cold and frozen with both face and fingers numb, I watch as the waves continue to do their systematic regimen of crashing onto the now cold, wet banks despite the bleak and frigid conditions.

It’s kinda like life, in a way.

The beautiful days, warm and sunny, are easy to take because these are the desired times, the times we long for. But when the cold and harsh winds approach, whipping and numbing us while we stand in their paths, these are the times that are hard to withstand.

Yes, this is what I pondered as I stood there in sheer frostbitten agony, at the beach of all places, on the last day of 2017.

It made me think of the year that was drawing to a close, the year that has probably taught me more than all my years here on earth combined.

It was the year that I learned to totally rely on God.

Not just to talk the talk, but I was forced to walk the walk.

He showed me, in multiple ways, that He is capable of anything and everything.

He made His presence known through the unthinkable, and He has shown His capability in situations that, through the human eye, were deemed impossible.

It’s not until the bright, warm, and sun-filled days have disappeared and we find ourselves standing in the midst of abrasive winds and unprecedented surroundings that we are left with nothing else to do but throw our hands up and find refuge in the One that controls all circumstances.

As a new year approaches, I wish you many “sunny beach days,” but when the hard weathers do hit, my hope is that you find comfort and peace in knowing that the unending love and protection of the Father above awaits to help see you through them all.

Wishing you many blessings in 2018…

Photo credit by photographer Ivy Kingery