Emerald Isle Adventure

I love our Saturdays.

Right now, Nick is able to be home with us all day Saturday and Sunday and we love it.  Since we went to Emerald Isle last week with Andrea, Nick had been aching to go back and swim in the waves.  Soo, yesterday we went back to make a day of the sea air and the salty water. 

It started to rain on our way to the beach (about an hour and a half), but when we found a break in the clouds we stopped, hoping to have a little while in the sunshine.

As soon as we carried the stroller down to the beach and all our stuff and got set up under the umbrella, we noticed the storm coming fast in our direction.  I knew how badly Nick wanted to swim, so he got about 5 minutes in the water before the storm was on top of us.

We had to pack up quickly, which was kind of funny to be carrying so much stuff across the beach in the rain.  Surprisingly, Adrian slept through the whole ordeal.  We started to head back since the rain seemed to be letting up, and realized that Hammocks Beach Park is much closer to us than Emerald Island, so we stopped to check out the visitors center. 

We are planning to take a ferry from there to Bear Island next weekend...which is an uncommercialized island famous for the seashells, sea turtles, wild horses, and dolphins.  Hopefully not many other people are planning the same trip so we can have a lot of time to ourselves! 

One thing Nick and I have been talking about when we discuss our future as parents, is how exciting it is to us to be able to make conscious decisions in deciding what kind of parents we want to be.  We, together, get to decide and orchestrate what our family chemistry will be like.  The understanding of the responsibility can be overwhelming to me sometimes, but very exciting at the same time.  Being a mom, a wife, and part of a parental unit must be very selfless. 

Thinking of this makes me realize how desperately I need Jesus, and how desperately I need him to carry me and guide me through the day.  I want to be a loving and patient mom, and a devoted wife. I can't serve my family in the way I want to on my own.  I can't love my husband enough, I can't love my son enough, without the love of my savior. Remembering that it's not something I'm supposed to do in my own strength is such a relief.  I'm glad Christ is such a perfect strength. 

2 Corinthians 12:9-10But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.