'Safe To Shore' Journal

After the clock struck midnight we put on our jumpers, scarves, hats and anything else warm we could find and headed out for a beach walk. The weather was terrible, the wind threatened to knock us over but it was officially the new year, so we went out any way. As soon as we rounded the corner from our street, towards the water front we were engulfed in pitch blackness. The faint glow from a few houses dimly lit our way, but mostly the roaring sound of the ocean to our right let us know we were best staying on the footpath.

This isn’t abnormal when you live in Northern Ireland. If you don’t go out in bad weather, you’d never leave the house. Besides, there was something about the midnight adventure that kept us walking forward.

That and the steady blinking of the lighthouse a mile up the road. We followed its flashing light the whole way, until we got to the harbour.

We looked over the big stone wall keeping the waves at bay. The light from the lighthouse would blink away and it was dark again. When it came back you could see a clear path of light stretching miles across the blackness. It was mesmerising.

And also felt significant.

It’s been nearly two years since the pandemic changed all our lives.

We don’t know about you, but there have been times in those two years where we barely felt tethered. Like the next big wave could sweep us off the edge of the harbour and whisk us away into the dark, cold, night.

Sometimes we don’t even have to be at sea on some great adventure for the lighthouse to be our guide. Sometimes we can just be minding our own business, walking along, in our own neighbourhood and we still need guidance to not walk into the sea.

God is so good. Not only is He our sustaining light, but he provides steady provision when we need it. Here are some of the ways God has guided us personally through the storms of these last two years:

• Unexpected financial provision
• Good friends and community to shoulder some of the burden
• Loving family who kept showing up
• Good books
• Delicious food
• Laughter and joy in unexpected places

Your list might look different and that’s okay. We can’t know what’s ahead in this year, but we do know who is going to keep us tethered safe to shore.

- Rend Co.