Posted in Stories
The sun was beating down on me, boy it was so hot, too hot to be climbing up these cliff paths I thought, but the view, oh the view was just amazing. I paused for a moment and looked out across the bay. The colour of the sea was a clear blue and looked amazing with the sun shining across the waters. How inviting the sea looked. I could see yachts and lots of them which seemed so small from where I was standing. I could just about make out some surfers too and envied them some what, out there having fun without a care in the world. I could really do with a swim to cool myself down if only for a short time.
I located a hankie from my bag and wiped my forehead before walking over to the bench and sinking down onto it. I took out the bottle of water that was in my bag and had a long drink, I didn’t realise how thirsty I was but I had done quite a bit of walking and knew that it wouldn’t be long before I reached my destination. Another opportunity to stop and rest and I knew this quaint little tearoom where I could have lunch, nothing much but just a salad would be fine. It was far too hot for anything else! After lunch I could then wander down to the beach and go for that swim that I had by now promised myself and knew I needed before relaxing on the beach with the book I had with me.
Sitting here I found myself looking around me, taking in the beauty of the cliffs, the wonder of the sea and all the wild flowers which were all around me. What an awesome and wonderful God we have, to have created all this. Just the sheer beauty all around, was so very precious. How could anyone not believe that You don’t exist I wondered. That You are alive. You created all this beautiful and idyllic scenery. Sitting there I just drank in the sheer beauty of Your creation.
Looking at my watch, I knew I ought to be getting on but was I really in such a hurry to leave, no I decided, I could stay here a little while longer. I reached into my bag and taking out my sketch pad I started to sketch the scene before me. Taking in the ragged cliffs and the sea with the sun making ripples across the waters, my pencil was making remarkable work of the paper in front of me. I missed out nothing, every little detail before me was put down on paper until finally I stopped and had a look at my work. I had to admit that I was quite pleased with the result and noted that I had missed out nothing. I had captured this beautiful piece of scenery before me on paper. This was a piece of my Father’s creation that I had captured and I was so thankful that I had taken this opportunity to rest and therefore take time to capture this beauty on paper. I was so thankful that The Lord had blessed me with the gift of being able to draw. This was a gift that I didn’t think I had and was newly discovered just a few months previously. I come from an artistic family and I remembered my father time and time again trying to encourage me to draw and trying to get me to draw straight lines which I couldn’t do when I was a child. You see my father was very articulate and everything had to be drawn to detail and I think after awhile he gave up on me and I guess I also gave up on me for years after that. So this was such a surprise when I discovered that I did have this wonderful gift after all. I also knew that The Lord knew the right time for this gift to be unwrapped!
I yawned and after taking another drink of water I got up and started making my way down the cliff path, at least the last couple of miles were mostly downhill and then I would reach my final destination. Looking at my watch, I would still make it in time for lunch before heading down to the beach for my swim. I could feel the water beckoning me already and trust me this would be most welcomed after the heat of the day.
