Sandcastles

Tis September 16th and a beautiful, warm and sunny day. This was not the case just yesterday as the remains of hurricane Ike had converged with an eastward moving coldfront and a dip in the jetstream to bring much cooler temperatures to the Bluegrass. Even though my favorite season is Autumn with it's temps and foliage this unseasonably cool snap (upper 60's) caused my mind to wander back to our vacation at the beach! Our first with our beautiful baby girl and our first to the beach in quite some time. Taking with me the thought of winter's first chill and how suddenly the conditions changed and then returned to normal my thoughts rested on our last day at the beach.

My daughter had played in the sand, digging holes and filling them up again for days and never tired from the excitement. She liked to crawl into them and be buried up to her arms and then climb out and go rinse off to do it again. Occasionally daddy found himself or at least some part of himself covered in sand as well. We made little characters in the sand such as Spongebob and Patrick, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, and would bury toys to hide them from sight so the other could run their fingers through the sand to search them out. We had built a few small castles using the molds for walls and watchtowers purchased earlier at a nearby store.

Babygirl wanted another castle and daddy's know that what babygirl wants babygirl gets so we amassed our equipment at the crest of the beach between the dry and moist sand from the touch of mornings high tide where the sands consistency provided for a most noble building site. Babygirl shoveled while daddy built the walls and embankments, towers on every corner and at strategic locations throughout the kingdom. Building progressed on a scale which had not yet been seen, at least for us on our weeks vacation, areas of residence began to emerge seperated by vast courtyards and public squares. Central places for nobility began to materialize with temple sites for worship and suddenly I realized I was constructing the 'old city' from map # 7 in the back of my Bible! Nonetheless, with the construction of a large moat the kingdom was complete. The scope of this undertaking received compliments from beachgoers and the moat was of such size that my daughter had to step across it's span carefully into the main approach to the castle where once inside she could walk up and down it's walkways and into the courtyard's and living areas with a smile on her face and an occassional giggle from the overwhelming excitement. I suppose it was close to two hours in making and we loved every minute of it and it is a special 'first' memory I shall never forget.

The reason my mind went to this place in time is because of the similarities it had with which the weather had so abruptly changed and changed back again. I began to think of our sandcastle that we focused so much time and attention on only for it to be enjoyed for about half the time it took to build it and then we were off to another adventure. Our wives and children had went on to the townhouse as my friend and I stood on the beach watching the tide come in that final afternoon. At first the moat began to fill and even divert the water from the incoming tide. Obviously this was shortlived as the tide began to encroach upon the walls of the castle and into the courtyards until finally our sandcastle was gone.

Much of our lives are spent building sandcastles in which we invest so much of our time and effort into things that will not last. Parents sacrifice their families for their climb up the corporate ladder and men and women alike find investments for their time which will have no significant return. There are times in my youth which I regret not spending with family that have gone on and a host of youthful decisions that were based upon short term goals rather than long term visions. Perhaps you can see these things in your life as well. Focus on those things which you can take with you such as the relationships in your life, relationship first with your God and then with your family. Store up your treasures in Heaven where they cannot be corrupted nor stolen nor destroyed and remember to be a part of the things that really matter because the words of James are indeed true; "This life is like a vapor, it is here just for a little while, then it vanishes away!"