The word of the day is "stingray".

These little buggers are everywhere! I think they must travel in packs. These two are about two feet across. I looked down and there they were, swimming three yards away from me. Very graceful, they are, but when you're not expecting to see anything moving, it's quite a surprise. I took this picture after I landed.

Lots of jellyfish, too, but that's normal. According to the wildlife people down here, our party is trying to single-handedly destroy a colony of loggerhead sea turtles. We left our house lights on and that supposedly confuses the young turtles and they head inland after hatching instead of out to sea. I say it's bad parenting.

"Don't go chasin' waterfalls..."

"...stick me in de ocean, I'ma make it look real good." You'll need to see Couples Retreat for that to make sense but it never fails to crack me up. Needless to say, we've been reciting it over and over since we got here.

The sky was cloudless all day. Literally cloudless. And it was hot. This explains why I look like a tomato. No exaggeration. No embellishment. I could reach most of the way around my back to put on sunscreen. MOST being the key word there. I have a line on each side dividing SPF 8 from SPF nothing. The nothing-covered parts show the worst sunburn I've ever had, and I've had some doozies.

Near dusk, some black clouds moved in and gave us a lightning show that was absolutely amazing. Lightning is not easy to photograph. It took me about thirty-seven tries just to catch the glimpse in the photo below. But it was worth it.

Up close, it looks like the lightning is miles above the clouds, which it may be but still it adds depth to the picture. I have no idea what it looked like when God wrote the Ten Commandments for Moses but that's what came to mind when I saw this picture.

And finally, I am rockin' the Swagger Wagon. My room is a mile and a half away from everyone else so I'm taking the Thomas Greyhound back and forth each day. You have to watch this video, though, even if you've already seen it.

Day two comes to a painful close. Need help! Send aloe!

I have arrived.

It's amazing to me how one's mood instantly improves when you step out of the car and this is the first thing you see. Weeks, maybe months of stress and frustration faded quickly and my mind was filled with nothing but images of myself napping for hours at a time. Oh, and eating for hours at a time, too.

I've yet to step foot on the sand because we got here late afternoon and had to check in, unpack, freshen up, blah, blah, blah. So tomorrow can't get here fast enough as far as I'm concerned. Mostly sunny, 85 degrees. Jealous much???

Finally, I did something today that I've never done. I bought sunscreen. I think I've used it maybe twice in my life. My philosophy has always been burn and turn. Since I spend my days out in the sun, I tan early in the season and never really give thought to wearing sunscreen. But age breeds wisdom, I guess, so I've committed to wearing it this trip in order to somewhat protect the un-sunned parts that will be exposed. At least as much protection as SPF 8 will give. Anything higher than that and I might as well wear a hoodie.

That's all for day one. Have a great Sunday.

As much as depends on you...

We talked about Romans 12:18 tonight in our lesson and it really took me back to a specific day years ago. Consider this storytime.

I think I was in high school and was having an issue with relationships or a friendship or something. I don't really remember the details of why I was having troubles but that's not really important. But I do remember talking to my granddad about it. He told me that, "the Bible says to do your part to get along with everyone." Then he pointed me to that passage. It stuck with me instantly.

Years later, I came to SCBC and was on a youth trip to, wait for it... the Rocky Top Motor Lodge. Those of you who attended one of those trips can reminisce with me fondly. Anyway, during that trip, our youth girls were having some "issues" with each other. Some of you ladies might remember this. It makes me laugh still.

They were all piled in one of the rooms duking it out or crying together or whatever it is gals do when they powwow like that. Afterwards, gangly, adolescent Sarah and round-faced, adolescent Virginia came up to me and asked me, "What are you supposed to do when people won't let you get along with them?"

POW! Granddad memory resurfaced and I dropped that little tidbit of wisdom on them. I told them that God expects them to do their part and that's all they can do. You can't make people choose to do the right thing but you can choose to do your part. They looked at me with wide-eyed amazement (they haven't since), and I walked away thankful for how my granddad realized the importance of God's Word in everyday life application.

I'll never forget either of those memories. That's just a fraction of some of the things my grandfather taught me but it's real life proof that Scripture is the answer to life's struggles. Sorry, ladies, for embarrassing you. I'm sure a future dinner and ice cream will make up for it.

I have finally identified my wounds that I don't have.

I got to be a guinea pig of sorts tonight. I was asked to pour forth from myself for the benefit of a certain lovely college student's higher education. So I opened up the coffers of emotion and regret with the hopes that, someday, lovely college student's career will bless the lives of many a troubled soul.

I took this seriously from the start even though she tried to play it off as just an assignment. We began with the topic of "choose a personal issue." Not too difficult for someone with layer upon layer of personal issues. But choosing was harder than I imagined because there are somethings that are just hard to say. Nevertheless, we persevered.

I won't get into details but I quickly learned that there are things buried in us that we don't think are problems. During this little exercise, with eavesdropping lovely college student #2 listening in, I found myself dredging up some stuff that I had allowed to make decisions for me. Big decisions throughout my life that have altered my course. But what I have realized is this:

My choices have taken me to and from places, to and from relationships, and to and from God over and over again. Those choices are mine. No one else is responsible for them. I can only look to myself as the one to blame when the choice was wrong. Some choices had instant consequences while others took time, even years, to play out. And people were hurt, and continue to be hurt, by my choices. Summary: when I choose me, me wins. But only me.

I was taught years ago by my grandfather that Jesus was and is Love because He chose. He chose others. Always. First. With no regard for Himself, even to death. Philippians 2 puts it quite nicely. That's where Granddad pointed me to.

How to resolve my past? How to lay to rest the bad decisions of a lifetime? I can't go back, sadly, and make restitution. What I can do is what God has expected of me all along. That is to strive to be like Him. To choose others first, over and above myself.

Scars happen. But a scar is a healed wound, marked forever as a reminder of a bad choice. When I see the scar on my right wrist, I remember to not run headlong, arm extended into a glass door. When I see my inner scars, I remember to not make the decisions that led to those wounds.

I have decided that regrets are not a bad thing at all. They are reminders, lasting memorials to decisions that were most likely selfish and etched out in me to guide me away from making the same, bad choice again.

This probably doesn't make much sense to any of you but it's a great way to spend an evening with friends. I appreciate lovely college student's interest in my life, and #2's willingness to relate.

Oops, I did it again.

I've picked this up in the middle but you'll catch on.

We believe that if we carelessly screw up, we can say a quick prayer and apology, and the mistake will be chalked up to our humanness. It never dawns on us that the mistake might re-define Christianity to someone who is observing.

It might just incorrectly re-define Jesus.

It is for this very reason that we (as a church community) are mostly talk and very little fruit. We say whatever we feel impassioned about, but we only do what we feel like doing at any given moment. We are not meticulous and careful in our faith because we have become the religion of the do-over.

We love that Jesus died for our sins and that His grace cancels out the Old Testament need for sacrifice. Those Old Testamenters -- WOW -- they really had to bend over backward to get right with God: sackcloth and ashes, burnt offerings, weeping and gnashing. I couldn't gnash even if I wanted to. If I did, my orthodontist would make me wear a retainer to bed. We thank God that Jesus made all of those spiritual gymnastics a moot point. Jesus died on the cross. He took the blame. His scars and blood and death replaced the need for mine. That's what grace is -- and we love, love, love grace.

Sadly, we also abuse it.

In an attempt to be a more free church --less bound up in legalism-- we have embraced grace so heartily that we have also eradicated responsibility. We cave to sin and temptation and desires and whims and preferences very easily, especially in the church, and we feel bad fleetingly. Then grace comes in and spanks guilt and we have a half hour of worship and feel awesome. But we don't do a whole lot of the dirty work to truly seek permanent healing -- to truly sprint away from sin with all of our might.

Daily sins, shortcomings, and afflictions are rampantly increasing in the modern church. Why? Because we are seeing grace as a coupon -- as a voucher that allows us to not worry about destructive actions leading to disastrous consequences. It is as if we believe that for everyone else sin leads to hell and death, but for us it leads to a scolding that is quickly forgotten. We act like sinful actions are a cakewalk because we are lucky enough to know about the grace discount.

What happened to the reverence? The heartbreak that is supposed to come from displeasing God?

The truth is, Christ's grace does cover us, but our sins speak lies upon lies to those who have not yet decided if Christ is worth following. To them our choice of what to do about grace may very well mean life or death.

Grace does not replace change. Grace enables change. It empowers it, makes the change worth it. --Mark Steele

I'm not a church basher. Most churches, I believe, have a sizable number of devout, Christ-like folks. But step back and take an honest look and it's not hard to see that Christians are drifting toward a belief system that makes the narrow way a lot wider, and easier to navigate. It seems that the popular line of thinking is to call one's self set apart without having to live and look, and actually be set apart.

"How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg." --President Abraham Lincoln

"The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next." --President Abraham Lincoln