Feast or Famine?

This is the first summer I have not been to the beach yet. Ok, I know there are real problems in the world and in the grand scheme of things this is not a big deal. But for me, it kind of is…summer is my favorite time of year and the beach (usually the Delaware and Maryland beaches of Rehoboth, Bethany and Ocean City) is my very favorite place to be. I love swimming in the ocean, walking hand in hand with my husband along the shore, eating Thrasher’s french fries,  Fischer’s popcorn and Dolle’s fudge as we stroll the boardwalk, even playing games like water guns and getting on rides like the Haunted House. In short it is my happy place so I am always itching to get there once the warmer temps of May hit. So why haven’t I been yet? Work, plain and simple. I am inundated with book editing jobs which I prayed to get last year around this time (I was in a dry spell…and while I did get to spend more time with the kids and get to the beach several times, financially it was not a happy place to be with two daughters in college!)

Nevertheless I was feeling a resentment creep in as I buckled down on a beautiful sunny day to hunker over my laptop while my husband (bless his heart, he even took the day off Friday just in case I could finish my work to take me to the beach) worked on home projects. I had to remind myself that I was lucky to get this extra work, that the beach will always be there, that I needed to take responsibility to meet my commitments and deadlines. Finally, I stopped and made a gratitude list and realized I am truly blessed indeed. While last summer I may have felt like I was in a famine work and money-wise, I had truly been feasting on a little more time in the sun and time with my daughter during her last summer home (good thing because I didn’t know at the time she would live over 1,000 miles away after her college graduation this year.) And while this past weekend I felt like I was in a famine, not getting to the beach, I was really feasting on plenty of work (that I actually like doing) to make extra money which will most likely make more future travelling possible (not to mention paying the bills and saving toward “rainy days” easier.) I guess our outlook on life is all a matter of perspective and it never fails that when I am grateful, there is no room for me to be unhappy. (And I even took a little time to take a swim in our local outdoor pool to break up the work days, another happy place for me!)

Do you look at life as a “glass half full” or “glass half empty?” Your life as a “feast” or “famine?” Of course we want it all, and preferably now, thank you very much. But living…truly living, fulfilling God’s purpose and being our best selves, requires balance, sometimes sacrifice, finding joy in the little things, and acceptance of God’s plan and timing. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;^ a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) Lord, I pray that I am present right here and now, doing my best to serve you and others in the “season” of life in which you have placed me and that I appreciate whatever gifts you send my way as we all prepare for the eternal feast to come.