Rough Path?

As I recently shared in the previous post (Wet Shoes, Old Wreck, and Flies!) I went on holiday with my daughter and son-in-law and their two little dogs Juju and Sammy. One end of the beach at Camber Sands was really fine sand which was so lovely to walk on, the other end was harder to walk on because it was mostly pebbles especially when the tide was in.

I thought about this, and how as we take our journey along the path of life we all long for a smooth pleasant path. Sometimes it is but for most of us the path is not easy to walk on. We have so many problems in life, financial, health, family, work, all kinds of things make the path of life hard to walk on, and we wonder were we can get some relief. There are times of joy, and happiness, moments snatched from the ordinary humdrum of life that we manage to make special and precious, and how we cherish these moments and long that they could last.

Romans 3:23

Before I became a Christian I found life could be hard, I had so many pebbles and rocks in my path that sometimes I wondered if I could continue to walk this path. Abuse, divorce, death of my son, and oh so many other things that made the journey hard. But oh, those lovely precious moments with my family and my friends. Snatches of happiness.

Then my life changed, Jesus called me and I answered. He forgave my sins when I repented and I gave my life to Him. Did the path become lovely and smooth then to walk on? No, I didn't suddenly become immune to life's problems but because I'd been forgiven I was released from the bondage of sin, it no longer had a hold on me. I was free from guilt and shame, I had a joy in my heart that the world couldn't offer, a deep down joy that stays with me no matter what my circumstance, no matter how rough the path, no matter how big the problem it doesn't take away that joy. It doesn't take away either the peace I have because this joy and this peace don’t depend on my feelings, or my circumstance because it comes from God.

John 14:27

Am I perfect? No, so sometimes I will sin, sometimes I will fail God but God is faithful to His word and forgives and pardons me when I repent and turn to Him. My path is still not smooth but now I have a guide and helper, one who will not let me down, someone who is always with me in the darkest times as well as the best times. 

1 John 1:9

Jesus said to go to Him and He would give us rest for your weary soul

Matthew 11:28

Is your soul weary, are you heavy laden with all of lives problems, are you weary of your sin? Give it all to Jesus and let Him help, guide and sustain you along life's journey. Believe me you'll never look back and long for the old path that you trod without Him. I was a sinner then without hope, now I’m a sinner saved by the grace of God with hope.

Wet Shoes, Old Wreck, and Flies!!!!!

I had a wonderful break with my daughter and son-in-law, we went from Friday to Monday to Camber Sands in East Sussex. It really is a lovely place, especially if you are just looking for a chilling out on the beach holiday that is dog friendly. The house we stayed in was welcoming, we were greeted with a chocolate cake, wine and apple juice and a note of welcome from the owner.

We had TV and Wi-Fi for rainy days (although we were hoping we wouldn't have any of those!) the first thing we did was check out the beach, Emma's two Chihuahuas love the beach, each end of the beach was for dogs, the nearest to us was really soft sand, at the other end there was a lot of pebbles, the dogs preferred the sandy beach as did we. We had great fun on the beach for the few days we were there. One memory sticks in my mind, Mark had thrown the ball for the dogs and it had gone in the water, Juju carefully went in but was unable to retrieve it, she just watched it getting further and further away from her until Mark came to the rescue, he rolled up his trousers and went in to get it, there was just one problem, he had to wade in up to his waist, the things we do for people and animals we love.

Emma and I had a ride into Rye, we weren’t there long and just had a look around the shops, stopping on the way back at a small lake with a lot of swans on it, I’ve never seen so many in one place. 

Rye Bay Cafe

We also had a lovely meal in Camber at a cafe called Rye Bay Cafe I would certainly recommend it should you decide to have a holiday at Camber the food was home cooked, and delicious, the staff were friendly, and the management did not mind the dogs, so that was a bonus.

When Mark was doing his heroics I spotted something in the water in the far distance and so on our last night I had a walk to see if I could see what it was as the tide would be out, plus it was almost sunset so I hoped I would get a few good photographs. I gave up eventually of jumping over the rivulets of water flowing down the beach so by the time I arrived at my destination my poor shoes were wet through. It was a wreck of an old boat jutting out of the water, there was a couple investigating it too, the lady rolled up her trousers and started out into the water, fortunately her husband persuaded her to come back, it was too far for wading. I was pleased though that I had seen it and got some photos.

I decided not to walk back along the beach but went up to the cycle path back to the main road, it wasn’t until I was on it that I realised the wall was covered in flies of all kinds and I was quiet glad when I got to the end of it.

I had a wonderful time, in a wonderful place, with wonderful people, I am very blessed.