Spontenaity

At 5 pm or so yesterday, Aaron and I left Raleigh. About 20 minutes down the road we were both just sitting quietly. He pointed out a car that had 2096 bumper stickers on it, all that were pro-life, shove God down your throat types... and he said that he hated how Christians were often portrayed like that. A few minutes later, I was just thinking about bumper stickers and noticed that none of the cars around us had any... which I found odd, because I felt like most people usually have them... going through statistics in my mind, I saw a car with 1 sticker. It was an Atlantic Beach sticker with a lighthouse... I mentioned that it said AB (for Aaron and Baird....duh) and he was like, ooh look a lighthouse. We began to wonder what lighthouse it was, because I had never seen one at AB before... this led to Aaron's brilliant idea to drive to Hatteras. And brilliant is not said in a sarcastic tone. It was a wonderful trip. :)


I pulled out the map and began planning our route while calling 411 to get ferry schedules to the island. We ended up stopping in Greenville to get gas from Sheetz (I mean, gas cards, so who would get gas anywhere else??) We left Greenville just before 7pm Saturday.


It was an adventure. I won't go into all of the details of the adventure of getting there, but I will tell you a bit about our arrival.


Around 11:30pm we got to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Obviously the visitors center was closed and it was deserted... but nothing was blocked off, so we walked right up. The half-moon was shining brightly, and as our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we took in the beauty

of the night. It was silent and still, while lit up by the steady beams of light and the moon. It seemed majestic.
The sky was beautiful and clouds were passing by quickly. As we took it all in, we noticed a deer strolling up silently. It was beautiful to watch it walk closer to the lighthouse in such a graceful manner. We backed away and headed back to the car. We ventured down the road a bit to the beach access. The waves were crashing and the moon was peeking in and out of the clouds. It was a beautiful sight and we stood there and thanked God for taking the time to give us such a marvelous night. He created so much, and still puts enough precious time in for the details of things like the Cape Hatteras National Seashore at 12:30 at night.



Right around 12 hours after our departure, we rolled back into Copper Beech. It was a wonderful, spontaneous night that I will never forget.

The blue line is the "getting there" route and the red is the "coming home" route.

Our feet as the waves roll in.

What the beach can do...

So I've started to write a new post quite a few times now... but to no avail...
Let's just say that life comes and comes and keeps coming. But a fresh breath of air is there for you when spending a few moments with Christ.
Hecticness is up and going, but I know that more is to come because my fall schedule still isn't in full swing yet. ... by that, I mean that Young Life hasn't kicked off for the year yet. I have been busy trying to pursue some girls this summer, but its just not the same as the school year.
So far this year I've made it out to a football game, volleball game, and 2 days of lunches. And they've all been fantastic! Its so great to see how God is backing me up and showing me that though the year, and these girls, may be tough, He's there, watching me follow His plan and trying to show these girls what a wonderful path it is to live on.
We had our Young Life leaders beach retreat this past weekend, and it was so encouraging to see approximately 30 of us crammed in a little, old house, all for the same reason... coming together to pray, worship, fellowship, encourage, and plan to go out and meet Pitt County high schoolers right where they are and to live as an example of Christ in their lives. I was thrilled that this trip came together, because I can already tell a difference in this year and last year, when we never had the chance to share that weekend together. God is going to do great things as long as we continue to live for Him and surrender to His amazing love.
Please pray for me and my brothers and sisters in this ministry!
Grace and love...