Taking the dogs to the beach in the morning has become somewhat of a routine lately. I love to go first thing (around 7 am). It's gray, a little misty, and would be quiet except for the roaring and crashing of the waves. Taza goes bonkers. She's running around, hopping, twisting in the air. There is a fair amount of trash on the beach, which she loves to sniff and sometimes play with. Also crab shells and starfish. Today there was a dead rat. We avoided that one. As you can see, this is not country club paradise. But it's real and it's breathtaking.

I usually take my Bible so that I can do my daily reading in front of the ocean. Somehow it seems more fitting. In that setting and all alone, I feel safe praying out loud with my eyes open, looking up at the sky instead of at the back of my eyelids. There's something precious about starting the day that way, remembering that I'm a tiny speck of a person on an insignificant planet but that God is still listening intently as though I'm the only thing going on. It's been good.

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