Many beachcombing friends agreed that their trips to the beach are actually walking meditations. Our hearts are open to nature, our minds cleared of all thoughts and therefore more creative and receptive. Walking the beach has healing effects for those who have lost love ones or experience major life changes. Here is my own experience that convinced me there is really a greater presence.
It happened in the summer of 2000, when I attended a 3-months training course in San Francisco, far away from my home in Hong Kong. My husband and two kids (5 months and 2 1/2 years old then) did not come along. During those 3 months abroad, I had a very disturbing thought that a serious accident might happen such that I may not seen my family again. I kept that thought at the back of my mind while I reason with myself that it shouldn't happen.
One Saturday afternoon, I went to the Ocean Beach. It's very windy and the waves were high and freezing. I found no sea glass but lots and lots of broken sanddollars littered the shore. Sanddollars are something I've never seen on the beaches of Hong Kong, so I decided to collect a complete specimen to show my kids. But I walked the vast beach for a long long time in vain. Then I decided to leave. Strange that my legs carried me not to the main road, but towards the steep sand dune, which is more than 20ft high. I started to climb, slipping and sliding back many times, but I kept going. When I finally reached the top huffing and puffing, the first thing I saw was a sanddollar half burried in the sand!
Immediately, even before I took it out of the sand, I knew it's a complete specimen. I scooped it from the sand and couldn't control my joy, I praised out loud " Thank you Lord!"It's so strange for that sanddollar to be there on top of the sandy bluff 20 feet from sea-level and more than 200 ft from the shoreline!From that moment on, I knew He's with me all the time. He knew about my worries, what I'm looking for, and He provided when I let Him lead me. My secret worry of an accident just vanished!
The next day, I returned to the same beach again. The wind was low and the waves were calm. There were thousands of unbroken sanddollars all over the beach! Just a day ago, it's so difficult to find just one! I took this as reassurance from Him: " Follow me and I will make you bountiful!" Some friends said it's mere coincidence, but my family and some close friends agreed with me that it's a miracle.
Now, whenever life is hard on me, I would recall this and be fully charged again. I believe if you pause and listen, He is there for you too.
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