On Monday, March 24th, our whole team minus Caitlin (who hitched a ride with her cousins) piled into a Suburban and headed off for Cannon Beach. From our meeting point, the beach was about two hours away. We all figured out, rather quickly, that road trips were a shared love, so the prospect of us sharing sharing two hours in a car together was rather exciting. For one member of the team, Laura Clawson, the destination of the trip held even greater curious excitement. Laura, who is native to Minnesota, had never been to the beach or even seen one at a distance. As we drew close to the beach, she suddenly exclaimed, “ There it is! Did you see it? I saw it!”We pulled into the quaint, tourist town of Cannon Beach with eager anticipation .Beaches are beautiful, awesome, and relaxing places to go when you have a lot on your mind, and, after working and toiling in the streets, our minds were rather weary and completely full. This was the moment to unwind, to be still, and to think.
Everyone pulled their stuff out of the car and made for the beach. Laura’s excitement grew intense as she skipped over the last hill to gaze out at the beautiful gray/blue water and the crisp white crests of breaking waves. Laura, Whitney, and I ran the long stretch of the beach to wade in the literally ice cold water for several seconds as the tide started back in. Although the water was painfully cold, it was still irresistible and, somehow, extremely refreshing. Some of the team members foolishly stayed back on the sand. Hmm... to their shame.
After Aaron Dodson, an East-Coast surfer, and I changed into our makeshift swimsuits, we left out team on the sand and sprinted headlong into the biting water. We both had to laugh as we watched all of the Oregonians look on us as if we were mental cases. Almost every native of Oregon who Aaron and I had talked to had cautioned us that the water was entirely too cold to swim in, but every one of those comments only strengthened our resolve that we had to dive in and go for it. We stood waist deep in the water for about ten minutes, diving head long into the waves. After those ten minutes, we walked back up the beach and stood there freezing. When we started turning shades of blue and purple, we decided that doing jumping jacks and throwing the football around wasn’t enough to keep us warm, so we changed back into our dry clothes.
At around 2pm, after walking up and down the beach looking for shells and just resting, Caitlin, Whitney, and I walked to a store to get some food and fire wood for a campfire and discussion time. I think, out of all the quiet times and worship times on this trip, not any other time was as encouraging as that campfire time.
The wood burned smoky, but gave off plenty of much needed warmth. We sat around in the soft sand, eating chips and bread, seagulls flying around and seeking handouts. After a few minutes of eating and laughing, Christina softly stated that the time around the campfire would be spent with each team member receiving a word of encouragement from every other team member. As we started, I realized what an amazing thing we were actually doing. We were edifying and uplifting each other in every way that we could, building a wall of truth and encouragement to guard against the coming discouragement of a hard battle. We were preparing and equipping each other to fight the spiritual battle that loomed over us. We were the church. We were disciples. We were truly brothers and sisters, bonded for battle, bound by love, and surrounded by the hands of the mighty Father.
I will remember that day at the beach for a long time. Sometime in the future, I know the words that my team gave will come into my head, and, as God speaks, I will be emboldened once again.
-- Taylor Lindsey, Assistant Journalist
Boy Bonding Time at the Beach.
Awestruck bythe ocean.Cannon Beach.
Posts
